


All That I Need

by wedontslave



Series: What I Need Most [1]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Slavery, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Forbidden Love, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Sexual Slavery, Slavery, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:20:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 67,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26441065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wedontslave/pseuds/wedontslave
Summary: When Lexa was sold as a sex slave to the Griffin Estate, she thought that her life was over. But really, it had just begun.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Series: What I Need Most [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038297
Comments: 521
Kudos: 963





	1. Sold

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This story will touch on a bit of abuse and rape, so if you are sensitive to those topics please steer clear from this story.  
> I do not own The 100 or its characters. I am simply borrowing them for the purpose of this story.

Time holds no value. For Lexa at least, that is the case.

Time is just a case of repetition. Rinse and repeat. Day after day, Lexa is forced to do the same things. Things that took her innocence. Things that she wishes more than anything would go away. Every night she would pray that the next day would be better, she wouldn’t have to suffer through whatever her master does to her, whether that be forcing her to do laborious chores, forcing himself onto her, or just using her as a punching bag.

Nothing had changed for the better.

Lexa had grown accustomed to the fact that this would be her life. Endless hours of pain, torture, suffering. Nothing would change for her. Nothing ever will.

After all, life was not fair. Lexa was the unfortunate product of a master and a slave. She was a mistake. When she was finally of age, she was sold over to her first master. She remembered how she was torn out of her mother’s hands, and sold for a measly price.

It was almost as if that was all she was worth. She didn’t like being valued at a price. Her mother had told her that Lexa was priceless, she was everything, she was going to go on to do great things. Little did Lexa know that her mother was just saying that because she didn’t want to expose the young brunette to the horror that lies everywhere in the world.

Sometimes her mother would disappear for prolonged periods of time. She would later come to realise that it was either her mother being raped by her father, or her being beaten into submission.

Lexa missed her mother. But she wasn’t even sure if her mother was still alive. After all, it was not illegal to kill a slave, as a slave is technically property and the master can do whatever they please with it.

Lexa had her rather long run of masters, actually, considering her youthful age of seventeen. She had thought that her first one was really bad. He was a man in his mid-twenties, and had taken Lexa’s innocence when she was only fourteen. While he wasn’t so bad as to beat Lexa up whenever he felt like it, she still had her fair share of abuse from the man. She was then sold on, and her second master was worse than her first. Her second master bought her for his dad, who had Alzheimer’s and was incapable of the simplest jobs. Thankfully, no one forced themselves onto her during her half-year stay there, but she was forced to do mundane, exhausting chores every day and was forced to help the dying man with everything, like helping him shit, feeding food into his mouth, changing his clothes. Needless to say, Lexa did not enjoy her time there. When the old man finally died, she was blamed for his death and got a rather heavy beating. She was sold, battered and bruised, to her third master.

She would rather not talk about her third master.

Her fourth one was a man in his late-thirties and treated Lexa as a fuck-buddy. There were also other slaves that were in his possession, so it wasn’t that bad, because Lexa was able to make friends. But unfortunately, if she was caught interacting with any of the other slaves, she would be thrown into the basement and be starved for two days. Sometimes the filthy man would pound into her at night, sometimes in her sleep. It really wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Her fifth master was not as bad as her third master, but he was close. He had some weird fetish and would force Lexa into kinky roleplays that she did not enjoy at all. The man was sweaty, gross. He was abusive. Before, Lexa had only been tortured with bare hands, maybe a bat here or there. But this man went professional with his abuse. He had this knife with a brown and yellow hilt that he kept at his side at all times, and would sometimes use it as Lexa’s punishment. If Lexa screamed, he would cut deeper. In the beginning, Lexa would cradle her inch-deep wounds rendering her incapable of sleep at night. About three months in, she had learnt some ways which prevented her from getting treatment from the knife, but it was not entirely effective.

She should’ve been happy when her fifth master finally got bored of her and sent her to the market. But really, her heart just filled with dread. There was nothing for her in life. She really would try and kill herself, but she could never muster up the courage.

Which brings her to this present moment. The market was bustling with people, both masters and slaves. It was easy to tell which one was which by their attire: the masters are dressed in a plethora of vibrant colours whereas the slaves wore simple, grey or brown robes that were torn and tattered. Lexa herself was wearing a brown robe, and her master had put a considerable amount of makeup in various parts of her body to hide her bruises and scars.

She was handed off to the auctioneer a while ago, and now she was waiting in a room behind the stage where she would be presented like a chunk of meat a moment later. Looking around, she could see the other slaves that were about to be sold in the same room as her. Some looked beyond scared: they probably only had a few masters and were very young. If anything, they were probably going to be sold off to their first master. Lexa remembered how she felt when she was here for the first time. Her stomach was constantly turning, her palms were clammy and sweaty, and her heartbeat was at an alarming rate. Dragging her eyes across to the other members in the room, she could see some of the older ones. They wore a more stoic expression, almost bored of this whole thing, just wanting to get it over and done with. Some were as old as early-twenties, and they just looked resigned and defeated. Lexa wondered if she would be like that then, if she was even alive then. Even though she only had masters that treated her like an object, she still had a glimmer of hope in her heart. She had heard that there were masters that didn’t believe in this whole system and only bought slaves to save them from further abuse. Maybe this time was the time where she got sold to the good people. She definitely deserved it, the last three or four years had been absolutely hell for her. She desperately needed a break from all of this.

A part of her also wondered what slaves turned into when they were too old to be sold. That wasn’t a problem with her mother when Lexa was handed off, because her mother’s master just kept her around for chores and the occasional fuck. But what if she wasn’t wanted anymore? What would happen, when she had no more value? Would she become a maid? Or worse, would she just be killed off? Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing, upon second thought. It will be the one last suffering to end all suffering.

The sound of the door opening shook Lexa out of her thoughts and brought her back to the present. A man in his thirties came in with a briefcase.

Lexa nearly rolled her eyes at the sight. She nearly forgot that she had to be drugged. It was a procedure for the auction process that all slaves be drugged to prevent any chance of struggle. It really wasn’t necessary. It wasn’t like they had any energy to overpower everyone anyway.

Her vision turned slightly hazy as she felt the needle that was pierced into her arm. Her world began to spin a little bit, so she closed her eyes to prevent vertigo that was hurting her head. She felt her body being lifted by her armpits and she felt herself being dragged out of the room and towards the general direction of the stage.

She was sat on a chair as the other people sitting before her were auctioned off one by one. She didn’t really pay any attention to this process, since she had heard it so many times. Some were worth more than others. It appeared that the factors that contributed to the price of the slave were looks, ‘experience’, and ‘prestige’. Apparently, prestige is built up by a mixture of what past masters thought of them and overall health and stamina. Lexa had no idea what ratings her previous masters gave her, but she really didn’t care. Maybe it made her feel a little better to know that she was sold at a higher price than the others, but at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t her money she was spending, and it wasn’t money that she was getting either. Whether she be sold for $5 or $50000, it was the same thing.

“Over here, we have a seventeen-year-old brunette, P rating of ninety-two…” the auctioneer’s voice drawled as Lexa was pushed forward. She squinted at all the light that was on her face, and through the rather blurry fog of her vision, she was able to make out the audience. The audience section was a little dark to see because there was light on Lexa’s face, but she still raked her eyes over the audience anyway. She couldn’t recall the audience being this big, ever. This auction was going to be pretty intense, Lexa guessed, as her P rating was quite high so maybe there was going to be some competition. Although those ratings tend to not be accurate as masters give high ratings for hopes of good prices for the slaves.

“Starting price of $1000,” the man who Lexa learned to be named Jaha announced. Lexa saw nearly every auction paddle raise. That did a little bit for her ego, but not much.

“1500 dollars,” Jaha continued, and not many paddles went down. “2000. 2500. 3000.”

There were still quite a lot of competitors. Lexa remembered being sold for just over 1200 dollars for the first time. Her value gradually increased as her rating started to increase, and she was last sold for about eight grand.

“Ten grand,” Jaha exclaimed, and there were still about five paddles up. Well, maybe an apparent rating of 92 was really good and was worth a lot.

Filthy rich people.

Just then, someone shouted their own offer.

“I’ll take this one for twenty-five grand,” he called. “End of auction.”

A few gasps could be heard in the auction house.

Even Jaha was stunned for a short while. No one usually did this, especially with a price this high. “O-Okay,” he said. “Anyone want to challenge for twenty-five grand?” he asked.

Silence.

“Going once, going twice, sold!” Jaha announced, slamming his gavel. “Congratulations, Mr Griffin!” Scattered applause resonated across the room.

Lexa widened her eyes. She was sold to the Griffins? She had heard a few things about that family, as apparently they had a reputation. They were extremely wealthy, yet extremely mysterious. Among most people, Lexa didn’t know how they had come to gain such fortune and especially what they did to their slaves. She did hear that no slave that was bought by them had ever made it back into the auction house.

Lexa’s blood ran cold. This meant that the Griffins most likely killed the slaves when they were no more use to them. After all, they did not need the money by selling the slaves. The slaves were just a toy to them, disposable, worthless. Maybe twenty-five grand was worthless to them. Lexa still had no idea why she was sold for over three times the amount she was sold for last time, however. That had to mean something, right?

But she was almost certain that Mr Griffin would be her last master. Her life was over.

She was guided off the stage by a guard. Now she understood why she was drugged beforehand. If she actually had any energy to resist, she would try her absolute hardest.

Why was life so unfair to her? Why did she have to be born as a slave? What did she do wrong in her past life?

A fair-haired, middle-aged man came over and collected her. His expression was completely blank as he grabbed Lexa’s right arm with quite a bit of force and started to lead her away.

During the whole car ride away from the auction house, Lexa really wanted to cry. Her life was over. This was the end. But since being a slave for so long had toughened her up as she would be beaten up for crying, she didn’t. She sat there in the backseat of Mr Griffin’s car, motionless, watching the bright blue sky for one last time before she would be confined until the day she dies.

After about half an hour of pure, electric silence, Lexa was grabbed by her arm again and was led to the Griffin Estate. She didn’t try to resist or fight back. There was no point. She was property now, and Mr Griffin had control over her every move. Her life was over.

The door opened and Mr Griffin used his voice for the first time since he made his bid at the auction house.

“Clarke, look what I got you!”


	2. Needs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am actually blown away by the kudos and subscriptions on this story.  
> Thank you so much guys.

“Clarke?” Mr Griffin called again when there was no response. After about ten more seconds of rather uncomfortable silence, Mr Griffin turned to look at Lexa with an unreadable expression.

“Stay here,” he ordered. Lexa nodded her head immediately, not wanting to get on her master’s bad side on her first day. Mr Griffin gave a single nod back in response and walked away from her to go up the stairs.

When Mr Griffin disappeared from Lexa’s sight, Lexa took the time to take in her surroundings. For a family that was supposedly extremely rich as they were able to just dish out twenty-five grand like it was nothing, the estate was rather underwhelming. Of course, it was still intricately designed and there were still expensive-looking items that were in sight, such as the gold-framed picture hanging on the mantelpiece on the far right, but Lexa had seen houses that were a lot more decorated and impressive than the sight that she is seeing now. But she was not going to judge yet, after all she had only seen the reception and for all she knew the interior, such as the living room, could be overflowing with high status and extreme wealth.

Lexa didn’t dare walk towards the mantelpiece to examine the picture, because she had no right to, and she didn’t really know what kind of a man Mr Griffin is. Normally she would be able to figure out how ‘good’ a master was going to be when she was taken to their home for the first time. Some masters, like the third one for example, put a collar around her neck and cuffed her hands as soon as she was handed to his possession. As soon as that had happened Lexa had known that it was going to be a tough time for her. It ended up being a little more than tough.

Lexa found it really tough to read Mr Griffin. While he was not exactly hostile and hasn’t shown any signs of animosity towards her, he definitely wasn’t friendly either. Not that she was expecting any kind of friendliness from him anyway, as he was of much higher status than her. She guessed that him not treating her like scum of the earth was a start.

Since Lexa did not dare move an inch from where she was standing, she settled for just looking at the picture that sat on the mantelpiece from afar. There were three people, two had light blonde hair, one had hair which had a darker shade of blonde, more like dirty blonde. Lexa guessed that this was Mr Griffin’s family. Upon quite a bit of squinting, Lexa could figure out that this picture must have been taken a while ago, for Mr Griffin looked considerably younger, and he was also slightly slimmer. He had his arms around a woman, the one with the darker hair, and both seemed to have wide smiles on their faces. In front of them, between them, was a waist-height girl who was also smiling brightly at the camera. It was most likely their daughter, and from the outside, it seemed like they were one happy family.

Before she could dwell any longer on the picture, the sound of footsteps resonated and Lexa instantly straightened herself out, standing up as straight as she could and pretending that she had not been observing the picture at all.

“Come with me,” Mr Griffin ordered, somewhat gruffly, and walked off in a different direction. Lexa quickly followed in his wake. At least he wasn’t grabbing on her arm or dragging her by her hair or something like that, so that was nice. After a moment or so of them walking through the estate in silence, Mr Griffin piped up again. “I don’t actually know your name. What is it?” he asked.

Lexa startled at the expectation of talking. Especially when she was addressed like a normal person. She initially opened her mouth, but it decided to not work. After a few seconds, however, she managed to regain her voice. “Um, Lexa,” she stuttered.

“Hi Lexa,” Mr Griffin responded, and simply kept walking without another word. A little confused now, Lexa kept following him. The man in front of her was walking at a rather brisk pace, but Lexa was still able to take in what was around her as they weaved in and out into various rooms. She found that this estate was rather big. It wasn’t the biggest, she had been in bigger ones before, but it was still really big. However, the walls were rather bare for a family of this grandeur. There wasn’t really that much stuff on there at all, maybe the occasional picture, but that was it. Everything was painted a bare white. It was serene, and maybe even calming.

Eventually, Mr Griffin stopped in front of a door. He turned to Lexa.

“You ready to say hi to your new master?” he asked, not aggressively, which was a welcome change. Lexa was a bit confused. What did he mean that he wasn’t her master? He bought her.

“New master?” Lexa echoed, rather dumbly. She flinched inwardly at her stupidity. She literally just broke the golden rule of being a slave. Never question a master.

Surprisingly, Mr Griffin just sighed. “Yes. Clarke is going to be your master.” With that, he knocked on the door. “Clarke!” he shouted. “Open up!”

When there was no answer, Mr Griffin just sighed. “Clarke is a little difficult at times,” he explained, taking out a set of keys and sticking it in the keyhole. He twisted and a click can be heard. “You are her property, you understand?” Mr Griffin warned, for the first time with a bit of bite on his voice. He took one step forward. “You do what she says. If you hurt her, I swear to god you will regret you have been born.” When Lexa nodded rather vigorously in understanding, Mr Griffin backed off and opened the door. “Inside.” He ordered, and Lexa took a tentative step forward, into the room. “You are hers, remember,” he reminded. “Never the other way round.” He looked a little conflicted, as if he was deciding whether to leave or to stay. After a few seconds, he seemed to have made his decision. “Get acquainted with her.” With that, he closed the door and left.

Lexa took another cautious step, further into the room. Raking her eyes around, she could see that this was obviously someone’s bedroom. There were a few pictures on the walls, which contained the same blonde girl that she saw downstairs on the mantelpiece, with a darker haired woman who Lexa presumed to be the mother. The pictures seemed to vary in terms of age, for in some pictures the girl was really small and in some, she seemed to be a lot older, maybe around Lexa’s age. Turning her head slightly, she spotted a desk sat at the corner of the room. There was some scattered paper on it, and a few books that were placed in an unorganised fashion in the bookshelf that was just above the desk. Feeling a little too curious to stop herself, she edged herself forward and towards the desk. She knew that she shouldn’t be doing this, but it seemed like there was no one in the room, so she started to flip through the loose A4 sheets of paper that was on the table. They seemed to be notes, some presumably from school. Lexa couldn’t really read, because she never had the chance for any type of education. When her mother was able to sneak some time alone with her, she would try and teach her some stuff, like basic maths and how to read and write. However, teaching was a little difficult without any paper so Lexa couldn’t really learn all that well. And when she became a slave, any form of education became impossible.

Still, even though she couldn’t understand what was being written, it was still interesting to study the handwriting. It was slightly loopy in some places, such as the letters which Lexa recognised to be the ‘r’ and the ‘f’.

For some reason, Lexa found herself ensorcelled by the masses of text that loomed before her, so when a voice suddenly spoke she jumped out of her skin.

“Let me guess,” a rather snarky voice said. “He paid… fifteen grand for you.”

Lexa snatched her hands away from the desk as if they had been burnt, flinching away from the desk and jumping about a foot backwards.

“I-I’m so sorry,” Lexa stuttered, turning around so fast that her vision blurred slightly. “I didn’t know you were here. I promise I haven’t been reading it, I don’t understand it, I can’t read…”

“Anyone teach you to speak that much?” The person spoke again, and eventually, through Lexa’s dilated pupils she could see the person. It was the same blonde girl that she had seen in the pictures, and she seemed to be about Lexa’s age. She had an eyebrow raised, and Lexa dropped her head, a little intimidated from the fiery girl in front of her.

“No,” Lexa shook her head, face burning slightly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” the girl rolled her eyes. “So, how much did daddy pay for you? Was I right?”

“Uh,” Lexa racked her head frantically for the price that Mr Griffin had paid for her. “Twenty-five grand.”

“Holy heck,” the girl scoffed. “What a waste of a crap ton of money.”

Lexa did not know how to respond to that, so she didn’t say anything.

A few seconds passed with Lexa standing nervously and the blonde perched on the bed that was on the other side of the room, hugging her legs to her chest.

“You can move, you know,” the blonde said with a small chuckle. “Just go sit down if you want.”

Lexa wasn’t sure if that was an order, but she assumed that it was just to be safe. “Yes, mistress.” She bowed her head and shifted over to sit down on a chair that was a few metres away from her.

The girl made a weird sound that sounded somewhat like a growl from the back of her throat. “Do not call me mistress. Call me Clarke,” she said seriously.

“Y-Yes, Clarke,” Lexa stuttered apprehensively, unused to calling her master by their name, almost as if they were equal. It was kind of unheard of, slaves being able to call their masters by their name. She had heard that when someone accidentally called their master by their first name they got a little bit more than a beating.

“Good,” Clarke sighed. A few moments passed in rather tense silence before she cleared her throat. “I just don’t understand why daddy keeps on buying slaves. It isn’t going to fix anything.”

Lexa decided to take a risk. Clarke didn’t seem like the sort of person who would be particularly hard on Lexa, upon her first impression. “Um, fix what?” she dared to venture.

Clarke snapped her head over to look at Lexa with a hard stare.

“That’s none of your business,” she snapped, and Lexa looked down instantly, feeling ashamed of herself. Nothing was going to change, just because Clarke hasn’t hit her yet it doesn’t mean that she won’t ever. Lexa really shouldn’t have hoped for anything more than misery.

“I’m sorry, miss,” Lexa mumbled, head dipped.

Clarke sighed. “Listen to me. _Clarke_. Is my name that hard to remember?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“N-No, Clarke,” Lexa stuttered.

“Good,” Clarke said with less bite in her voice now. “Now, what is your name?”

“M-My name?” Lexa stumbled, surprised at the simple question.

“Yes, you want me to spell it out for you?” Clarke said monotonously.

“No,” Lexa replied. “My name is Lexa.”

“Lexa,” Clarke echoed, and Lexa found that she really liked the way that her name rolled off Clarke’s tongue. To be fair, she had not been called that in so long that she could barely remember her name anymore. She feared that she would not be able to respond when her name was called. If that happened, she may get into a little bit of trouble with her master.

However, Clarke was unlike all other masters that Lexa had. So far, Clarke was treating Lexa like she was actually a person, not an object or a toy. It was a weird sensation, to be treated this way. She was so used to constant pain that she no longer had any memory of what it felt like to be not in pain. Granted, she was still in a bit of physical pain, as her wounds from her previous master had yet to heal, but at least her emotional pain seemed had quelled significantly when she set eyes on the blonde before her. Why that happened, Lexa wasn’t entirely sure.

“Honestly, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you,” Clarke bit her lower lip.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Lexa dared to whisper. It was true. It was probably best for her to have her time here in peace, without the constant slap on the cheek or the harsh whip. Although that was a little too good to be true.

Clarke frowned, and Lexa recoiled slightly. Had she gone too far? She really should not have said that. She was in no place to talk back to her master without command.

“I don’t,” Clarke agreed contemplatively, which surprised Lexa a little. No more words were exchanged after that.

After a few minutes of deafening silence, Clarke spoke again.

“For the time being,” Clarke said. “Don’t be afraid to talk to me, Lexa.” Lexa felt her heart do a small leap when she was addressed by her name. “I don’t know why, but the previous ones I had were all too scared of me. I’m not intimidating, am I?” Lexa shook her head because that was what she was meant to do. Clarke seemed to believe her. “Okay. Well, I only have one rule for you. Please don’t call me mistress. I hate it. Got it?” Lexa nodded. “Good. I bet you’re hungry. You want to get some food? I think that dinner should be ready soon.”

Lexa nodded her head again. “That would be nice,” she whispered, because Clarke did say that she shouldn’t be afraid to talk to her.

“Okay,” Clarke mustered up a small smile. The sight sent a small tingle down Lexa’s back. The feeling was unfamiliar, but Lexa decided that she liked it.

XxX

Lexa and Clarke separated as they got to the foot of the staircase. Clarke had told Lexa to stay there, and not wanting to defy her master on her first day, Lexa simply nodded and Clarke left, presumably to get Lexa some food. It gave her a slight sense of déjà vu, as that was what had happened when she first set foot in this house. Just like before, Lexa didn’t dare venture to places that she probably had no right to be in, so she stayed put. Her leg was starting to really hurt, so she decided to sit down, on the third stair, feet resting on the first stair.

As the seconds bled into minutes of Lexa sitting there in silence, Lexa’s mind started to wander. If she had to be honest, she liked her new master. Maybe not like just yet, as it was still too early to judge Clarke’s personality and behaviour, and this was only the first impression. For all she knows, Clarke could just be as abusive as her previous masters.

The thought of that made her shudder, for two different reasons. Firstly, Lexa didn’t know if she could stand much more of what slaves have to go through. It really was quite amazing how some slaves could stay slaves for over a decade without attempting to kill themselves or go insane. Lexa didn’t think that she could stand even more than half a year. Her body was in constant pain, and any more may cause some long-term injuries that Lexa wasn’t sure would ever heal back to how it was before everything started. The second reason was that there was this constant tug in Lexa’s heart that was just there. For a reason that Lexa did not know, she was drawn towards the blonde that was her master. It was almost like they were opposite ends of a magnet. Maybe that wasn’t the best analogy, maybe Lexa was a magnet and Clarke was just a metal surface. Lexa was pretty sure that Clarke was not drawn to her the same way that Lexa was drawn to Clarke. It would kill her, perhaps literally as opposed to literally, if she found that Clarke was just like everyone else she had met: evil.

For some reason, Lexa really wanted to like Clarke. Clarke was the first person that talked to her like a person, other than her mum.

Lexa straightened herself up when she heard footsteps approaching rather rapidly towards her. Not wanting to be caught lazily sitting on the staircase Lexa scrambled to her feet, only to twist her ankle in her haste and causing her to wince. Despite that, she still tried to stand as straight as she could without her back muscles screaming in protest.

“You good there?” a small chuckle resonated to Lexa’s right, and the brunette rapidly whipped her head around to meet the blonde that had plagued her mind just now.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine, miss,” Lexa replied, trying her best not to scrunch up her face as her leg was starting to struggle to hold her up.

Clarke simply raised an eyebrow, and Lexa rapidly caught her mistake. “Clarke,” she quickly corrected herself.

“Good,” Clarke smiled. “You’re learning. The food’s ready, and I got you a seat at the table.”

“A-At the table?” Lexa stuttered, more than surprised. She had hoped for a piece of stale bread chucked to her at best.

“Yes?” Clarke frowned slightly. “You’re eating with us.”

“Oh,” Lexa breathed, feeling her heart rate increase. The prospect of eating with her master was more than a little frightening.

As Lexa trailed Clarke towards what Lexa presumed to be the dining room, Clarke spoke up. “Why is that so much of a surprise?”

“It’s just that they normally give me, um, my rations for me to eat on the floor while they eat at the table,” Lexa replied.

“Rations?” Clarke caught up on the euphemism. “What do you actually eat, Lexa?” she asked, meeting Lexa’s eyes.

“Um,” Lexa’s face started to flush slightly under the scrutiny of her master. “Sometimes bread. Or, um, if I’m lucky, leftovers. Occasionally fruit. Other times, stuff that, ah, isn’t typically considered food.”

Thankfully, Clarke did not coerce Lexa to elaborate. She scrunched up her face. “That’s horrible,” she gasped. “It will be better,” she promised, as they rounded the corner and Lexa managed to see the dining table.

Lexa closed her eyes as the aroma protruded her nostrils. She couldn’t believe that she would actually be able to taste the source of the smell, eat the food that had been teasing her over the past few years. She had craved normal food for so long, and the thought of actually eating it thanks to her new master nearly made her faint.

“Come,” Clarke whispered, guiding Lexa by her shoulders to sit at the table.

As Lexa raked her eyes over the steaming hot food that sat right before her, she started to feel irrational fear.

“This is too much,” Lexa mumbled, gesturing to the food in front of her.

“It isn’t,” Clarke replied. “This is what you should’ve eaten all this time.”

Just then, Mr Griffin made his way into the room and sat down grumpily opposite the two girls.

“I don’t understand why you have to let _her_ eat with us,” he grumbled, grabbing a fork and stabbing at the plate in front of him with a little more force than necessary.

“You bought her for me, didn’t you?” Clarke raised an eyebrow challengingly. “You don’t get a say.”

Mr Griffin looked like he wanted to argue her point for a short while, but seemed to decide against it. “I guess I don’t,” Mr Griffin said, casting his eyes back down to his food and continuing to eat.

Clarke turned to Lexa. “Eat,” she said. It wasn’t an order, simply an encouragement.

Lexa felt trepidatious as she pierced the small slab of beef that was on the plate with a trembling fork. She cast her eyes into the deep cerulean orbs that were staring back at hers encouragingly.

Lexa nearly let out a moan of pure content when the piece of meat finally moved past her chapped lips, tongue managing to taste flavour for the first time in too long. A surge of strong emotion washed over her, and she felt a lone tear prick at her eye.

Clarke smiled proudly at her, turning to her food and starting to eat.

Lexa rolled a little bit of spaghetti around her fork and started to eat, much to the elation of her vacant stomach.

XxX

Not long after she had satiated herself with oodles of food, she was sent to sleep. Compared to where she slept at over the past years, Lexa found her designated sleeping zone to be more than satisfactory.

She had Clarke to thank for that, she guessed. Clarke had insisted that Lexa slept in a bed, so begrudgingly Mr Griffin had carried a bed into the basement where the brunette slept.

As her back rested on the soft mattress and her emerald eyes stared into the ceiling through the fog of darkness, Lexa found herself thinking about her newest master again.

She felt drawn towards the blonde. Just wanting to know more about her, what happened to her and her dad, why they were so guarded and mysterious. Just wanting to know her past, present and future. Maybe meet her mother, who didn’t seem to be present today.

Not that she was in any position to know any of these things. Most likely, Clarke withheld information from Lexa because she simply had no right to know. At the end of the day, she was still a slave, more levels down the social ladder than she could count than her master.

Yet, as Lexa’s eyelids started to feel heavy, her mind was struck with the image of the blonde’s smile.

She was able to get restful sleep for the first time in three years.


	3. Heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 200 kudos? Wow! Thank you so much!

Lexa woke to the sound of raised voices. Now that wasn’t really that unusual for the brunette, for she had woke up countless times to the usual screaming of her fellow slaves during her stay in her fourth master’s estate, whether that be because they were being whipped or hurt mercilessly, or her then master doing very dirty things to the slaves. Or there would sometimes be the screaming that she would later realise came from her own throat when she was pulled out of her hiding place by her hair.

Brushing some stray hair from her face, she sat up groggily. It was at this moment when she realised that she was actually sleeping on a bed. That reminded her of what had transpired the day before. Yesterday had been very interesting for the brunette; it had been a huge roller coaster of emotions. When she woke up only about 24 hours ago, her heart had filled with dread with what she anticipated to transpire over the day. Then her old master had told her that she was being sold, and while she felt a little happy that she would not have to spend any more of her life in his presence, she was still a little scared. She didn’t know what her next master would be like. When she was at the market, she just felt a little frustrated, tired and anxious all at the same time. While she wasn’t feeling the nerves that pooled in her stomach every time she was sold anymore, she was still a little scared. When she realised that she was being sold to the Griffins, she had thought that her life was over. It seemed like her whole world crumbled at that moment, there was no more hope left in life.

However, when she actually got to the Griffin Estate, her despair started to dissipate when she met Clarke. Clarke was nothing like the other masters. For one, she called Lexa by her first name and didn’t want Lexa to call her ‘master’ or ‘mistress’. Moreover, Clarke had made no attempt to touch Lexa at all. Normally, on the first day, in Lexa’s experience, the master is more than eager to get started.

It almost seemed like Clarke didn’t want a slave. Lexa really hoped that she would be kept in the Griffin Estate, even if Clarke doesn’t want her. Lexa did not want another master. No master would ever feed their slave real food. No master would ever give her a bed to sleep.

Lexa no longer minded if the fact that no slave ever got out of the Griffin Estate was true. Before, she had thought that her life was over. But judging by the fact that Clarke is her master, maybe that wasn’t really the case.

A thought suddenly popped up. What if the reason for no slave ever escaping was because they were killed? It wasn’t illegal.

Even if that was the case, Lexa would happily die. Her life had been nothing but torture so far, and if she could die under the hands of a master that gave her hospitality and treated her like a person, she wouldn’t mind. Plus, she would not have to endure the horror that comes with other masters anymore.

Lexa got off the mattress and stood up, stretching her limbs. Her back no longer hurt as much as it had yesterday, and Lexa was infinitely grateful for that. She guessed that it was because she was actually sleeping on a soft surface this time, as opposed to the cold hard floor most of the time, or sometimes she would be forced to sleep against a wall in the closet because she was hiding from her master.

When her grogginess finally dissipated, she was able to make out what the voices that woke her up were actually saying.

“…think that buying her will fix us? It doesn’t mean anything! Not when you turned into this shell!”

“It does! You don’t know how much I dished out for her!”

“I actually do! That’s what you always do! Money is not the solution to every problem!”

“I don’t know what I should do, Clarke! Tell me what I should do!”

“You figure it out! This is not the answer!”

Some footsteps.

The door swung open suddenly and Lexa jumped a step back.

“Oh, hi, you’re up,” Clarke huffed, who still seemed to be in a foul mood from what Lexa presumed to be an argument with her father. For what reason, Lexa couldn’t figure out.

“Yeah,” Lexa breathed, using one of her hands to brush her hair to the back of her head.

“How are you feeling?” Clarke asked, taking a step forward. Lexa was proud that she did not instinctively take a step back.

“Better than I have in a long time,” Lexa replied, voice almost in a whisper. “Thank you.”

Clarke exhaled and broke eye contact with the brunette. “Did I wake you up?”

Not wanting to lie, Lexa nodded. “It doesn’t matter, though. I feel more awake than I can remember.”

“That’s good,” Clarke nodded. “You sure that you don’t want to sleep a little more? I won’t mind.”

“No, it’s fine,” Lexa wanted to smile, but she didn’t know if it would be appropriate. Her heart just warmed at Clarke’s apparent concern. Lexa had an internal debate for a short while before she decided to speak up again. “Clarke?”

Clarke turned her head to meet Lexa’s eyes. “Yes?” she said, seemingly pleased that Lexa had not called her ‘mistress’ or something of the sort.

“Were you arguing with your dad?” Lexa asked tentatively.

“Yeah, actually I was,” Clarke sighed, breaking eye contact again.

“Why?” Lexa asked.

Clarke stood there in silence for a short while. “It’s nothing,” Clarke said dismissively. “Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?”

“Breakfast?” Lexa had almost forgotten what breakfast was. After all, she had always had one meal a day for as long as she could remember. The only reason why she even knew that breakfast existed was because she had seen her previous masters have meals in the morning. When she asked her mother, she had told Lexa that they had a meal that was known as ‘breakfast’.

Thinking about her mother made Lexa’s heart clench. She still missed her so much.

“Yeah,” Clarke replied, turning away from her and walking towards the door. “You want some?”

“Yes, please,” Lexa said politely. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but after having lived so long in constant hunger, who was her stomach to say no to more food?

“Okay,” Clarke said, leaving the room and disappearing around the corner. Lexa sighed contently and sat back down on the bed. Maybe her life was about to change. She didn’t know how long she was to stay here, but she was sure that if things continued the way it was going, her time here would be the happiest of her life.

She was now almost certain that Clarke is not malicious in any way. Through her rather guarded exterior, Lexa found Clarke to be a caring person. She wasn’t so sure about Mr Griffin, however. He and his daughter seemed to have some sort of conflict, of what Lexa didn’t know, but it obviously was not good if she woke up to hear them arguing heatedly. She wasn’t even sure if Mr Griffin was as compassionate as his daughter. If she remembered correctly, he had said that if she hurt Clarke, he would make sure that she wished that she had never been born. That threat sent a chill down Lexa’s spine. She really didn’t want things to be like it was before – endless torture.

She really had to watch herself around Mr Griffin. She couldn’t get a read on him, she didn’t know what he was like based on what she had seen.

Clarke suddenly popped her head back in the door. “You not coming?” Clarke asked, expression a weird mixture between intrigue, amusement and frustration.

“Was I meant to?” Lexa asked, standing up from her bed again.

“Yes!” Clarke said with a small chuckle. “You’re eating at the table.”

“A-At the table?” Lexa stuttered. Again? She felt honoured to eat at the table like a person, but she was still surprised that she had the honour of doing that again.

“Yep,” Clarke said. “Better get used to it.” She tilted her head in the direction of the exit, prompting the brunette to follow. Lexa walked over to the door and started to follow Clarke in her wake.

The pair of them walked in silence for a while. Lexa didn’t say anything because she didn’t have anything to say, but she suspected that Clarke didn’t say anything not because she didn’t have anything, but because she was scared to say something. For what reason, Lexa did not know; it was just a gut feeling. She could feel the slight tension and discomfort in the air, however.

It turned out that the brunette was right. Abruptly, Clarke spoke up as the two of them got to the top of the staircase leading them to the ground floor.

“How old are you, Lexa?” Clarke asked.

A little taken aback for the simple question, Lexa took a few seconds to answer. “I’m seventeen,” she replied.

Clarke jutted out her lower lip and nodded with eyebrows raised, seemingly satisfied. “Interesting,” she drawled. “I’m also seventeen. Daddy is good at what he does, huh?”

Lexa did not know what that meant. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Clarke smiled as they made their way into the kitchen. “Morning, Echo.”

A lithe woman with brown hair turned around when she heard her name. At first, her dark brown eyes widened in what seemed like fear, but soon softened when she saw the blonde. “Hey,” she mumbled gruffly, breaking eye-contact and bending down to retrieve a plate from a low cupboard. “You ready to eat now?”

“Yeah, what have you got for us today?” Clarke asked politely, which surprised Lexa. Is this how she treats all slaves? Assuming that Echo is a slave, of course. But judging by the fact that she was cooking for them, she was more likely to be a slave than not.

“Um,” Echo sighed. “Eggs. Bacon. I can get you a bagel if you want.” Echo’s voice was somewhat monotonous as if she didn’t enjoy what she was doing. Lexa understood to some extent. Although, cooking really was not the worst that a slave had to go through. She wondered what Echo’s story was. There probably wasn’t really that much of a story in the first place, because said brunette looked really young. Maybe the Griffins were her first masters, or one of the first at least.

“That’s fine,” Clarke said. “Thank you, Echo.”

Echo did not acknowledge the last part of Clarke’s sentence. “Would you like cream cheese on top? If not, what would you like?” she asked, almost robotically.

“Cream cheese is fine,” Clarke said.

“I’ll serve you when I’m done. You can wait at the table, I’ll be there soon.” Echo mumbled, turning back to her stove.

Clarke smiled in response, which Echo didn’t see, before she turned to Lexa who was still standing beside her. “Come, I bet you’re hungry again, aren’t you?”

“I’ll always take food, hungry or not,” Lexa simply replied, which elicited a laugh to come out of Clarke’s mouth. It was like music to Lexa’s ears.

“Okay,” she chuckled, turning to leave the room.

“Thank you,” Lexa spoke up, addressing the skinny brunette that was now shaking her arm back and forth, moving the egg around the pan.

Echo whipped around and fixed Lexa with a dark, withering look that sent a chill down Lexa’s spine. Lexa’s small smile of gratitude faded. Briskly, she left the room, the vision of burning brown eyes in her mind that seemed to scream anger, pain, and jealousy.

XxX

“Who was that person cooking for us?” Lexa asked, fiddling with her fingers as she sat on the chair at Clarke’s desk, studying the writing on the paper that sat on top. She couldn’t understand what it said, but she was sure that it was about something beautiful, meaningful. Maybe sometime in the future, she would learn how to read. Although that was really wishful thinking. Reading was hard.

Clarke turned her head to the side from her place at the bed, lying down on her back so her view of Lexa was rotated 90 degrees.

“Echo?” she said.

“Yeah, her,” Lexa nodded. “Why is she so scary?”

“Scary?” Clarke frowned slightly. “Did she scare you?”

“No,” Lexa said after a while. “She seems to be quite intimidating though.”

“She isn’t to us,” Clarke said contemplatively. “Did she do anything for the brief moment I was gone?”

“She did nothing!” Lexa hurried to say, not wanting to get a fellow slave into trouble. “She just looked really unhappy and jealous.”

“Oh,” Clarke said. “Well, she is daddy’s slave. She’s been here for a while now. Longer than the other slaves at least.”

“W-What do you mean?” Lexa asked, feeling a spike of fear. “What happened to the other slaves?”

“Nothing bad,” Clarke said ambiguously. “Anyway, Echo’s been here for a year or so now.”

“Oh,” Lexa said. “Does she get mistreated often? She seems to be a lot more comfortable around you.”

Clarke sat up suddenly. “She’s a slave,” she said as if it explained everything. To be honest, it probably did. “Need I say anymore?”

Lexa could see Clarke’s walls starting to build up again, so Lexa decided to not push any further. Bashfully, she leaned back from her chair and brushed her hair to the back of her head.

Clarke suddenly became alert. “Lexa, what is that?”

Lexa froze. “What is what?”

Clarke pointed at Lexa’s wrist. “Your wrist.”

“Oh,” Lexa’s cheeks pinked slightly and she lowered her arms instantly, covering her arms and wrists with her sleeves. “It’s nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Clarke persisted. “Come here.”

“No, really, don’t worry,” Lexa tried. “It’s nothing.”

“I said come here,” Clarke said forcefully. Lexa was a little scared now; this was the first time that Clarke had raised her voice towards the brunette. While it seemed unlikely that the blonde was abusive to Lexa, nothing was impossible. Clarke still had a right to hit her. And for that, Lexa flinched and cowered into herself.

Clarke seemed to realise the effect of her voice on the brunette before her. Her face softened. “Come here, Lexa, please. I just want to see.”

Tentatively, Lexa edged herself forward and when she was finally close enough to arms’ reach, Clarke grabbed her arm tightly but not tight enough to hurt, and guided her to sit down next to her on the blonde’s bed.

Lexa felt some kind of tingle on her spine when she came into contact with Clarke for the first time. It was a feeling that was new to her, but after experiencing it multiple times over the past day or so it was starting to get familiar. And Lexa didn’t mind at all. She liked it.

Her heart was also beating quite fast. Probably because she was under intense scrutiny from her master sitting less than a metre away from her.

“That looks horrible,” Clarke gasped as she gingerly peeled Lexa’s sleeve away and up her arm, revealing a mixture of blue, purple, and green marks all over. There were a few stains on her skin that looked suspiciously like dried blood. It was nearly black, which goes to show how old it was. “Lexa, what happened to you?”

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Lexa whispered, feeling ashamed of herself. “I don’t even feel the pain anymore.”

“H-How can –” Clarke faltered. She blinked and shook her head once before focusing on Lexa’s arm again. “How can this not hurt? This looks mutilated!” Clarke tore her eyes away from Lexa’s arm as if she couldn’t bear to see it anymore. Her eyes shifted upwards to meet deep turquoise ones.

Lexa shifted uncomfortably under Clarke’s intense gaze. “You kind of get used to it,” she mumbled, fiddling with her fingers. “It’s been like that for ages. Your brain just ignores it because there is no longer any point in registering it. Why make yourself feel pain when you can feel no pain?”

“That’s messed up,” Clarke said, somewhat angrily. “No, I’m not putting up with this.” She stood up abruptly, causing Lexa to wonder fearfully if she had said something wrong. “I’ll be back soon with ice. Don’t go anywhere, please.” With that, she took large strides and left the room.

Lexa sighed as she started to bobble slightly on Clarke’s mattress. It was true. She was so used to her wounds that it didn’t hurt anymore. Actually, it was more like a constant throb that pulses through her system rhythmically, but she had trained herself to quell it so that it was now more like a dull thud that pulses weakly to the rhythm of her heart.

She remembered how it felt to be struck for the first time. Of course, the idea wasn’t new to her, as she had rather unfortunately witnessed her mother being struck before. It just surprised her how much it hurt. Her mother had always put on a brave face, she had come to realise. She would brush her wounds off as if it was nothing, keeping a stoic expression as her master whipped her perpetually, never stopping. Maybe she had trained herself to not feel pain too. Lexa remembered how she had curled on the floor, cradling her stomach and her burning red arms, feeling nauseous, eventually crying herself to sleep. Thankfully that phase was over. Now when she got a beating she would just take it with a grim grin and move on with her day. It had become part of her routine.

“I’m back,” Clarke’s voice broke Lexa out of her thoughts. Lexa glanced up to see Clarke walking briskly towards her with some packs of ice in her hands, wearing a slightly sour expression. If Lexa dared to guess, she would say that Clarke was concerned. But what master would get concerned over a slave? What master would care for a slave? It is unheard of.

Clarke sat herself down next to Lexa, a little closer than before. “Arm up,” she ordered. Lexa raised her right arm obediently. Clarke winced as she took another glance at the nasty bruises, cuts, and scars that littered Lexa’s forearm. “What happened here?” Clarke nearly whispered as she pressed the ice pack onto Lexa’s skin.

Lexa hissed at the contact, as her wounds started to burn. She squeezed her eyes shut as waves of pain invaded her system. She felt as if her arm was on fire. Why was her brain not ignoring the pain this time?

Clarke seemed to sense Lexa’s discomfort. She loosened the pressure of the ice pack and Lexa felt the pain ease slightly.

“Better?” Clarke asked softly, and Lexa nodded. “So,” Clarke drawled, flickering her eyes up and down. “Do you mind telling me what happened?”

“I’m a slave,” Lexa simply said, reusing Clarke’s words from earlier. “We don’t see anything but a world of pain.”

Clarke bit her lower lip as if she was deep in thought.

“This is stupid,” Clarke said after a while. She looked slightly angry, which was something that alarmed Lexa. Clarke seemed to sense Lexa’s discomfort, for the brunette was shifting uncomfortably. “I’m sorry,” Clarke sighed. “It’s just that I don’t even understand why this world is split between slaves and masters. It’s stupid. It’s bloody stupid. Everyone is born equal. I don’t get why some people have the right to abuse others like they aren’t worth anything,” Clarke ranted. She then sighed. “Did you get hit a lot, Lexa?”

Lexa felt the pleasant, familiar lurch of her heart when Clarke addressed her by her name. “A bit more than that,” Lexa mumbled, feeling her cheeks pink. She felt ashamed of herself. “I don’t really want to go into details.” Lexa prayed that Clarke wouldn’t use her powers as the master to force Lexa into telling her everything, as she didn’t feel like she was ready to. Talking about what had happened over the past three years is and will always be a sensitive topic for the brunette. Thankfully, Clarke didn’t push any further.

“That’s okay,” Clarke replied. “Just so you know, Lexa,” Lexa glanced up into cerulean orbs when she heard her name come out of Clarke’s rosy lips. “I’m not going to hit you. I never will. Please don’t be afraid of me, okay?”

“That’s what they all say in the beginning,” Lexa muttered, breaking eye contact again.

“Really,” Clarke put a finger under Lexa’s chin and lifted her head up gently, so that they were staring into each other’s eyes. “I will never hurt you. Please believe me.”

Lexa studied Clarke’s expression. She seemed to be sincere. “Okay,” the brunette whispered. Her senses seemed to scream at her as she felt Clarke in such close proximity. But she ignored it.

“Okay,” Clarke whispered back, a small smile appearing on her pink lips. She broke eye contact, looking at the ice on Lexa’s forearm again. “Does that feel better?” she asked quietly.

“A little,” Lexa replied truthfully.

“That’s good,” Clarke said. “We’ll hold it there a little longer, okay?”

“Thank you, Clarke,” Lexa said.

Clarke scrunched up her eyebrows for a brief moment. “For what?” she asked.

“Just… for this,” Lexa gestured to the ice with her free hand. “I didn’t know how much it hurt until now.”

“You should’ve never hurt in the first place,” Clarke responded. “You are a person. You have your own rights.” Clarke paused and a few seconds passed, in serene and tranquil silence. “Don’t think for a second that you deserved what you got, that you hurting is your fault. You don’t,” Clarke’s eyes started to glaze. “You don’t deserve what you got. This is so unfair. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

Lexa breathed out heavily through her nose. “I don’t know,” Lexa mumbled. “Sometimes I feel that I must have done something wrong in my past life and this is my punishment.”

“This is _not_ punishment,” Clarke said forcefully. “This is people abusing you for no reason. You do _not_ deserve what you got, you hear me? You have done nothing wrong.”

“I have done nothing wrong,” Lexa echoed absently.

“You have done nothing wrong,” Clarke repeated as if to reinforce her point. “This whole system is stupid. There shouldn’t be any slaves or any masters. I just don’t understand why someone has to belong to someone else. Why does someone get to treat another the way they want? A person is a person.”

“I guess,” Lexa said quietly. She winced when she felt a fresh wave of pain invade her system. Clarke picked up on that instantly, and she eased the pressure even more. “Just… thank you, Clarke.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Clarke whispered.

XxX

Lexa was feeling a whole lot better now, after a long time of bare skin pressed against the ice packs. It felt… uplifting, in a way. Cleansing. Almost as if all the bad memories, bad experiences, bad luck was leaching out of her system along with the pain.

She even got the privilege of a shower today. She couldn’t remember the last time she had showered. She had to be a little careful so that the jets of steaming water didn’t hit the black butterflies of bruises that spread across her back and front, but it was still an extremely satisfying experience. She just watched the beads of water trickle down her skin, onto the floor, circling clockwise before disappearing down the drain. It was almost like rain.

Rain. It was raining the day Lexa was taken from her mother. She remembered the petrichor emanating from the grass in the humongous front lawn as she was dragged out and thrown into the car, driven to the market for the first time. It was like the calm before a storm, to some extent. The petrichor was pleasant, and everything that followed afterwards was much less pleasant. Almost like her being given a final slice of something enjoyable before her quality of life plummeted into free fall.

Lexa knew that her life had been horrible. But despite everything, her lips rose into a grin. It felt unfamiliar, but it felt pleasant. Much like many things that she had experienced in her time in the Griffin Estate.

Her new master, Clarke seemed to care. Maybe, just maybe, things were starting to look up for her.


	4. Helpless

_“Come here,” the gruff voice resonated through the house, through the thick walls, into Lexa’s ear._

_No. It was too early._

_“No,” Lexa whimpered, curling herself into a ball and rocking back and forth in the corner of the room._

_“What was that?” the voice said, much louder this time, menacingly. “Did I hear what I think I heard?”_

_“I didn’t say anything!” Lexa gasped, squeezing her eyes shut, fear invading every nook and cranny of her system._

_“Bullshit!” the voice cried before the door to Lexa’s room was kicked harshly. The door didn’t budge, as Lexa had put a table behind it as an attempt to keep herself safe from the inevitable. “What the fuck is this?” the voice screamed. “How dare you!” The whole room shook with the exertion of the next kick. The door still didn’t budge. Lexa opened her eyes and watched from the corner with wide eyes, just praying that the door would not break down. Her body was still subconsciously rocking back and forth._

_She had built up some sort of rhythm. Back and forth. Back and forth. Almost soothing, except it was the opposite of soothing, considering the context._

_The rhythmic banging on the door continued until the perpetrator seemed to realise that it wasn’t working._

_“Fine. You want it hard? I’ll give you hard!” the voice was shrill by now, but it still sent a cold shiver down Lexa’s spine._

_With a mighty blow, the door was broken open and the table tipped over, falling with a loud crash and skidding a foot or so. “You filthy piece of shit,” the voice spat, as the loud sound of glass breaking and wood splitting finally died down. “You will regret everything.”_

_Lexa saw the silhouette before she saw the person. The entrance was rather dramatic, but that made Lexa all the more scared._

_The person was blonde. She strode over to Lexa’s side extremely quickly and with a rough grip, started to drag her away from her place at the corner of the room by her hair._

_Lexa batted her hands futilely, trying her best to ignore the searing pain at her scalp as her hair was constantly being uncomfortably stretched. She may have screamed when she finally recognised the person that was hurting her._

_Clarke’s cold grey eyes were the last thing she saw before red hot pain made everything go black._

Lexa woke up in cold sweat. Her whole body was shivering, and not because she was cold. It wasn’t even cold. She had the pleasure of sleeping somewhere that didn’t give her frostbite in the mornings. If anything, she was sleeping rather comfortably, under a duvet and upon a mattress in a room that was well ventilated.

This was her first dream concerning the blonde that she had known for a little over a week now. Before then, she had had dreamless nights of sleep which were really restful and pure. Maybe her body had nurtured itself back into full health so she could afford to have dreams again. Lexa had no idea how the human anatomy or whatever worked, so she was just guessing here.

Her bruises have diminished significantly during her stay at the Griffin Estate. Clarke had been nothing but kind to her so far, bringing over ice packs consistently so that her wounds could heal. Now all that was staring back at her when she was looking at her forearm or at the mirror were some angry scars that were etched into her skin. It was like a constant reminder of who she was, a slave, and she will be nothing but a slave. Although it was nice to experience the life of a non-slave. She just didn’t know how long that would last. She doubted that she would be kept forever in the Griffin Estate. Clarke had implied that many slaves had set foot in this place.

Did Clarke care for all of them the way she cared for Lexa? The thought of that made Lexa’s heart burn relentlessly. It felt unfamiliar, and Lexa didn’t like it.

Dreaming of Clarke behaving just like her previous masters had Lexa shifting uncomfortably. Clarke had promised that she would never hurt her. She promised. What if it was all just a façade? What if Clarke was just like everyone else? She only healed Lexa to make her flesh tender, making it all the more enjoyable to strike and make her scream in pain again.

What if she had been tricked all along?

Lexa sat upright on her bed and tried her best to control her breathing. No. Clarke is not like that. She promised.

But promises are just words built to reassure. Her mother had promised her that she would always be by Lexa’s side. Look where that promise ended up. Straight out the window.

That reminded Lexa of a time when her master’s eight-year-old child wanted to see if Lexa could fly. He got his dad to order her to jump out the window for the little child’s enjoyment. Lexa was in no position to resist.

It was a huge miracle that she did not break any bones despite the searing pain that burned every single one of her senses for hours to come. Maybe God had come to pity her. Or God had come to taunt her. She had never wanted to die so much.

She now had an incentive to live though. She was no longer so skinny; Clarke had made sure that she had plenty of food to eat, much to her dad’s discontent. Lexa had never felt better physically. Clarke was genuine, she had to be.

Lexa still had no idea what happened to her family, though. The tension at the dinner table was still high, though there was the occasional exchange of words. Now come to think of it, Lexa had never seen Clarke’s mother. Maybe she was away for a long business trip? She had heard that high-class people go on far voyages for work or something like that. Or was her mother dead?

Lexa didn’t dare bring up Clarke’s mother in front of the blonde because she felt like it was a touchy subject. Just like the subject of Echo. She had seen Echo strut around the house a few times during her stay. She never managed to talk to her, because Echo’s hostility was so tangible Lexa had to be an idiot to get close to her. Why Echo would be sensitive subject for Clarke, Lexa had no idea. Her family is truly an enigma.

Her thoughts were broken by the sound of the basement door opening.

“Morning,” Clarke smiled as she waded her way into the room and towards Lexa’s bed. Lexa tried her best to convince herself that this was not Dream Clarke walking towards her, so that she didn’t instinctively recoil backwards and hide into herself.

Clarke seemed to sense Lexa’s inner turmoil. “Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

Lexa gulped and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Clarke frowned slightly. “You’re really pale.” Clarke paused for a short moment, as if she was deciding whether to get any closer or not to the distressed brunette before her. Eventually, she took one step forward, and when Lexa didn’t make any movement backwards, Clarke slowly approached Lexa and sat by her side. “You’re really sweaty,” Clarke whispered. “Bad dream?”

Lexa did not want to say that the reason for her sweating was due to the dream that was about the person asking the question. “You can say that,” she replied, not lying, but not saying the entire truth.

“Want to talk about it?” Clarke asked.

That was not an order. That was not an order.

“Not really,” Lexa said, heart pounding erratically for defying her master.

“Okay,” Clarke simply said, and Lexa let out a huge internal sigh of relief. “Well, is there anything I can do to help?”

“You’re already helping,” Lexa said before she could stop herself.

“Really?” Clarke raised an eyebrow. “In what way?” she said.

“Um,” Lexa faltered, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Just by being here, I guess.”

“Oh,” Clarke’s lips curled up into a small grin. “Well, if that helps, then I guess I’ll stay here, then.”

“Okay,” Lexa whispered.

The two girls sat in silence for a short while, before Clarke spoke up.

“How are you feeling?” Clarke said, gesturing to Lexa’s forearm and body.

“Much better,” Lexa replied honestly with a small smile.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Clarke smiled, and quiet fell upon them again. It wasn’t after a while before Lexa decided to say something again, anything to break the silence.

“What time is it, Clarke?” Lexa asked.

Clarke’s expression seemed to brighten, possibly from Lexa addressing her correctly. “Nearly nine,” Clarke answered. “You slept soundly last night.”

Not really, Lexa thought. But maybe her body did have some well-deserved rest. It was just the dream that made her think that she had a bad night.

“Maybe,” Lexa mumbled.

Clarke caught up on Lexa’s uncertainty. “Did you not have a good night? Was it your bad dream?”

“Yeah,” Lexa found herself wanting to tell Clarke now, unlike before. Maybe it was to sate her pessimistic side’s worries, that Clarke is truly genuine and would never hurt her. “I had a dream about you, actually.”

Clarke’s expression was unreadable. “Okay,” she simply said softly, prompting Lexa to continue.

“You broke my door open and dragged me out by my hair,” Lexa mumbled. “A lot like what used to happen a lot of the time before I got here. I was so scared,” Lexa’s voice dropped to a whisper towards the end, as her eyes flickered upwards to meet Clarke’s intense stare, trying to search for any clues that would lead to what was going on within her master’s head.

“Oh, Lex,” Clarke sighed, reaching her hand across to gently rub Lexa’s slightly hunched back. Lexa felt the familiar tingle of her spine when Clarke addressed her by a shortened form of her name, which only intensified when she felt the soft hand that was now rubbing small circles on her back. “I probably shouldn’t have expected that you trust me completely so soon. I don’t blame you, Lexa. But I only ask you that you believe me that I won’t ever hurt you, okay? The me that you probably saw in your dream doesn’t exist. I will never be like that, I swear.”

“I know you won’t,” Lexa said, truly believing what Clarke said. “It’s just that I can’t tell my brain what to think. Not when it has been through so much.”

“I know,” Clarke said. “But I promise that it will get better, okay? You just need to give it time. Do you believe me?”

“Yes,” Lexa nodded.

“Okay, that’s good,” Clarke offered a reassuring smile. “Well, Echo should have the food ready by now. Do you want to eat?”

“Always,” Lexa replied.

Clarke laughed. “All right then, upstairs we go,” she stood up and gestured for Lexa to walk in front of her. Lexa got up from her bed and walked the now familiar staircase that led them to the ground floor.

XxX

Lexa closed her eyes as she relished the taste of smoked ham in her mouth. She knew that she had been eating normal food for over a week now, but her stomach still couldn’t get enough of it. Maybe she had to make up for all the food that she had missed her whole life. After all, ever since she was born she was given the little amount of what her mother had, until she was forced to move into another household, where the food she ate wasn’t that much better. If anything, it was worse. Even then, it was quite admirable how her mother starved herself to shield Lexa from the cruel world as much as possible, protect her from the harsh reality and keep her childish innocence.

A moan was suppressed as Lexa swallowed the tender and slightly juicy slice of meat. She reached over for her mug of milk, swallowing the cool liquid which trickled pleasantly down her throat. When she finished chugging her milk, she set her mug down and found that Clarke was staring at her.

“What?” Lexa asked, starting to feel self-conscious.

“Nothing,” Clarke broke eye contact. “It’s just… I can’t help but wonder what happened to you all these years. H-How badly were you starved?”

“Not that badly,” Lexa shrugged. “Hunger is the least of your worries when there is a lot of other things going on. It just feels nice to eat good food for once. I don’t think that my stomach can get enough of it.” Lexa half-joked towards the end.

Clarke didn’t laugh. She just looked ahead thoughtfully. “Look, about –” she was cut off abruptly by a shout and the sound of glass breaking.

“What did I tell you to do before I come down?” the angry voice demanded. It was so similar to Lexa’s old masters that Lexa instinctively backed herself towards the wall.

“Is that…” Lexa whispered.

Clarke had a grim expression on her face. She didn’t reply. She simply got up and walked towards the direction of the voice.

Lexa didn’t really want to stay behind by herself. Ironically, it was safer to be with her master than to be with herself. So, left with no other choice, Lexa got up to her feet and followed the blonde.

“I-I was cooking for them, I swear! I didn’t have time to –”

“Bullshit! Stop making pathetic excuses!” The harsh voice roared. “I told you yesterday that I wanted my shirt ironed! WHY IS IT NOT IRONED?”

“Daddy,” Clarke spoke up as she rounded the corner and went into the kitchen, where Lexa could see Echo scared out of her mind in the corner of the table, holding a saucepan as some kind of defence. Mr Griffin was towering over her menacingly. “It really isn’t that big of a deal, she can just do it now –”

“Stay out of this, Clarke,” Mr Griffin whirled around and gave Clarke a fiery glare with burning grey eyes. He turned back. “I ask you again,” he addressed Echo, voice now eerily quiet. “Why is my shirt not ironed? Did I not make it clear that I wanted it done?”

“I’m sorry,” Echo whimpered, still holding the saucepan in front of her. “I-I forgot. I’ll go do it now, I swear –”

“That’s not good enough!” Mr Griffin surged forward and wrenched the saucepan out of Echo’s hand.

“Daddy,” Clarke said again, warningly this time.

Mr Griffin paid her no mind. “It’s all your fault! Now I’m going to be late for work, and it’s your fault!”

“What work?” Echo had the audacity to say, to Lexa’s surprise. Oh no. This was going to be bad.

“What work?” Mr Griffin repeated incredulously, face bright red with rage. “You fucking talk back to me, fucking scum of the earth?” Mr Griffin screamed, and with that, Mr Griffin’s arm travelled in a wide arc and the saucepan stuck true with his slave’s head.

Lexa’s brain blocked out the screams that promptly followed, seemingly coming out of more than one mouth. No. This is not happening. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

“Let’s get out of here,” Clarke said into Lexa’s ear, already starting to guide her out by her arms.

“B-But Echo…” Lexa trailed off.

“It’s no use, you can’t save her,” Clarke said remorsefully, leading Lexa out of the room. “Let’s go to my room, okay?”

Lexa could tell that Clarke was trying to be calm for Lexa’s sake, but she was screaming inside her head. Clarke’s expression was completely blank, but she could tell that the blonde was absolutely furious. At her dad, maybe. Although her dad technically has a right to do what he did. Yes, it was horrible, but it wasn’t illegal.

“Okay,” Lexa had no choice but to say, and as the two girls ascended the staircase, Lexa tried her best to block out the screams that were still going on, along with the angry shouts and the sounds of more glass breaking.

Clarke slammed the door behind her when they both got into her bedroom, making the walls shake a little. The mentioned blonde started to pace back and forth in her bedroom, muttering things under her breath that Lexa couldn’t make out. Lexa didn’t really know what to do, so she settled for taking a seat in a chair that was close to her.

After a while, Clarke seemed to calm down considerably and turned to Lexa. “Don’t worry, Lexa, he has no right to hit you. You’re not his slave, right?” She sounded slightly unsure, for her voice wavered at the end. “He has no right. You’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.”

Clarke seemed to be misreading Lexa’s anxiousness. She probably thought that Lexa thought that she was going to go through what Echo went through. While Lexa was slightly scared at finally finding out Clarke’s dad was actually like, that wasn’t her main worry. Lexa had just felt really bad for Echo, and feared how Clarke would respond to what they had just witnessed.

“Was he always like this?” Lexa asked quietly.

“Who, my dad?” Clarke stopped pacing. When Lexa nodded, Clarke sighed. “No, he wasn’t. It’s getting worse. He never hurt her in front of me before. I’m sorry that you had to see that, Lexa.”

“It’s nothing that I haven’t seen before,” Lexa replied. “It’s okay, Clarke.”

“It isn’t,” Clarke sat down heavily on her bed, deflating. “None of this is okay. My daddy would never do this. I didn’t actually want to believe it, but when I saw it with my own eyes, I can’t deny it anymore. That man is not my daddy. Ugh,” Clarke buried her head in her hands. “I hate this. I hate him. I hate what we have become.”

Lexa stayed quiet, not really sure how to approach this. Clarke seemed to be really distressed, and Lexa had no idea how to help. She had never talked to many people in her life, so her social skills weren’t really up to scratch.

“I can’t stop him,” Clarke said after a while, removing one of her hands from her face. Lexa saw a single tear trail down Clarke’s cheek. Lexa felt a pang of hurt swipe across her heart: she had never seen Clarke cry before and she found that she would do anything in her power to stop it. “I just want things to go back to the way they were before. I don’t understand. I-I just want my d-daddy back…”

“Hey,” Lexa whispered, getting up and sitting down by Clarke’s side, tentatively putting a hand on top of Clarke’s, which was now resting on her lap. This was when Lexa’s mind started to draw to a blank. What on earth should she do now? “Don’t think about you dad right now, okay? How about… um… you tell me what your favourite food is?” Lexa eventually settled to say. Yes, she knew that it was feeble, and she was in no position to ask, but she decided that it would be good to distract her master from the thoughts of what had just happened.

Thankfully, Clarke didn’t berate her for being out of line. She sniffed slightly and wiped at her eyes. “Sorry, I’m being silly. Um, my favourite food?” she said with a small chuckle. “I guess that it would be… er… lasagne?”

What on earth is that? “Lasagne?” Lexa echoed questioningly.

“It’s some kind of pasta that’s flat and square and there’s lots of cheese and ground beef with it,” Clarke mumbled. “We should eat some sometime. I’ll cook it myself, because, um, I don’t want to burden Echo any more…”

Well, Lexa did manage to divert Clarke’s attention away from her father, but that only stuck itself to his slave, Echo, which Lexa wasn’t sure was much better.

“I would love to try it,” Lexa smiled. “I’m sure it’s really good.”

“It is,” Clarke said with a heavy sigh, wiping another stray tear from her face.

Silence fell upon the two girls for a while. Clarke seemed to be deep in thought. But at least she was no longer crying, so that was mission accomplished?

“Lexa?” Clarke suddenly said.

Lexa turned her head to meet Clarke’s eyes. “Yes?”

“You know what happened to Echo…” Clarke faltered.

“Yes?” Lexa said again.

“Was it like what happened to you?” Clarke asked.

Lexa sighed. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to divulge her past to the blonde at the moment. “To some extent,” she settled for.

“It’s horrible,” Clarke shuddered. “To think that is what every slave has to go through… what gives him the right? What gives anyone the right?”

“Look, I hate to break it to you,” Lexa closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. “But what happened to Echo is only a scratch in the surface as to what the masters are capable of doing.”

That caught Clarke’s attention. “What do you mean?”

Lexa sighed again. “Um, beating a slave up because a slave forgot an order really isn’t that bad. I’ve seen, and been through, um, a lot worse.”

Clarke studied Lexa for a short moment. “Lexa, what happened to you? I know I’ve asked many times, and you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but really, you seem to be deeply traumatized and I really want to help.”

“To be honest, I don’t think that you can do much,” Lexa mumbled. “But I’ll tell you anyway. You deserve to know.”

“No, seriously, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Clarke said, backtracking.

“I want to,” Lexa replied. “Look, Clarke, the thing about masters is that they have complete control over their slaves. And as much as you like or don’t like to hear it, it also means that you have complete control of me. But you are the only person who doesn’t treat me like I’m nothing, like I’m a toy. You are the only good non-slave I have met.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Clarke said quietly. “I’m sure there are others who take care of their slaves.”

“Sure, they take care of their slaves,” Lexa started. “In the worst way possible. The good ones just care enough for the slaves to not die, because they are worth some money if they want to sell them on. Others don’t really care that much. Some slaves have been left abandoned in a basement and they either starved to death or died of thirst.”

“How is that legal?” Clarke said incredulously.

“It is,” Lexa replied gravely. “You know how I said that they had complete control of the slaves, and how I was a toy? I don’t know if your dad does this, but they, um,” Lexa swallowed, closing her eyes. “They played with my body.”

“W-What?” Clarke gasped. “Lexa, tell me that it is not what I think it is.”

“I don’t know what you think it is,” Lexa said shakily, opening her eyes again. She tried her best to not let her emotions get the best of her, to appear defiant as she said the next part. “But I was raped. I was raped, Clarke, by all but one of my previous masters, more times than I can count. This is why I just hope that you will never let me go. Never sell me. Because you are the only good person in this world that I know, Clarke. If I ever get back to the market, my life will just be pure torture again.”

Clarke sat there, stunned, for a while. “L-Lex,” she choked. “Oh, God, I-I never knew.”

“How could you not?” Lexa said. “I was sold as a sex slave, Clarke. How could you have not seen this coming?”

“A s-sex slave?” Clarke gasped. “W-Wha… I didn’t know that…”

“You didn’t know?” Lexa asked.

“N-No!” Clarke said. “I thought that they were sold as normal slaves, people who do chores for their masters, like Echo…”

“Guess the world is considerably worse than you thought,” Lexa mumbled.

“I-I just can’t believe it,” Clarke said. “How is this even allowed. Why is this even a thing?”

“I don’t know,” Lexa mumbled, “But there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Do you think that daddy… does _that_ to Echo? She’s only fifteen…” Clarke’s voice wavered and tears started to slide down her cheek again.

“I don’t know,” Lexa mumbled again. “But I don’t think so.”

“He better not,” Clarke’s voice trembled, except this time it was not of sadness. More like… anger. “I wonder what happened to all the slaves he had. They just disappear one day and he would bring another one home.”

“I don’t know,” Lexa said for the third time.

“You’re not his slave,” Clarke said. “You won’t just disappear one day, right?” Clarke didn’t even seem to be talking to Lexa anymore.

“I better hope not,” Lexa sighed.

“You won’t,” Clarke promised. “He bought you for me. He has no right.” Clarke seemed to be convincing herself.

Lexa just nodded solemnly, because she had nothing to say.

XxX

Lexa was never one for wandering the house alone, because in the previous estates that she lived in, if she was caught wandering around and not being where she should be, she would be punished immensely. However, her primal need to help Echo had overcome her fear of walking around the huge estate alone, which is why she found herself strutting around, peeking into various rooms in hope of finding the young girl that definitely needed medical attention, based on the less than pleasant things that Lexa had heard and tried her best to ignore a while ago.

She seriously hoped that she wouldn’t run into Mr Griffin. Clarke had mentioned that Mr Griffin had no right to hit her, as she wasn’t his slave, but who knew what he could do. Now Lexa had some kind of an idea what Mr Griffin was like. He was not as bad as her old masters, but she still did not want to cross him, alone.

She wondered if Echo still had to iron Mr Griffin’s clothes. She remembered the first time that she tried to iron clothes for her second master. She got burnt, and it hurt for weeks. She wasn’t even allowed to wash her skin in cold water.

She wondered if Mr Griffin was Echo’s first master. Truth be told, it wasn’t even that bad if he was. From what Lexa had seen, the most that Echo had to suffer was being beat up savagely. Yes, it was still horrible, but it wasn’t as bad as having your innocence taken at such a young age.

She was about to skip a room before she heard the vague sound of sobbing. Echo was most likely to be here. Heart pounding, and not knowing exactly what to expect, Lexa opened the door and walked inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed!  
> Does anyone have Clexa fic recs for me? It will be greatly appreciated!


	5. Safe

Lexa’s movements were trepidatious, as she slowly walked into the room after opening the door gently. She was so cautious that the soft sound of the door clicking shut behind her as it swung back towards its original position made her jump. She wasn’t actually sure why she felt so anxious having a one-on-one with Echo. Maybe it was because of their first encounter where Echo fixed her with a scathing look so deadly that it made Lexa’s insides squirm, or because she didn’t know how to help her. After all, judging by what she had heard a while ago, all the banging and screaming, Echo could be badly hurt and Lexa would have no idea how to help. Lexa hated feeling helpless. There were times when her fellow slaves would be whipped harshly multiple times for failing to do some small task or chore and Lexa would sit there, gulping, shaking, because the sight is horrible and she would most likely be next. Thank god that phase of her life is (hopefully) over, for now at least.

If it wasn’t for the quiet whimpers that she was so sure she had heard coming from this room, she would’ve just moved on to another room, deeming this one empty. Because at first glance, there was no one. The room was quite bare: there wasn’t really any furniture or anything at all. There was an odd chair placed near the side of the room along with a table, a wardrobe, and an empty bed frame that did not have any mattresses on it or covers.

Lexa walked forward again, a little tentative, until she reached the wardrobe. If she had to guess, Echo would be hiding in here. She remembered hiding in the wardrobe because it felt like a sanctum compared to other places that she could be in her past houses.

She didn’t understand why people would be scared of the dark. If anything, darkness was her friend. She got plenty of that when she was hiding behind closed doors in small, confined spaces. The darkness only shields you from all the horrible things that the world is made of. It acts as a temporary shelter, allowing you to forget how horrible your life is, even if it is only a short while.

Opening the right door to the wardrobe with her hand, she watched as more and more light seeped into the inside, revealing more and more of its contents. There weren’t any clothes inside, so she was seeing the wooden wall until she saw long brown hair. She pulled her hand, opening the door the whole way, and inside, she could see Echo curled up, shielding her face with a hand that was held out defensively in front of her, squinting as her dilated pupils were taking in too much light.

Lexa could see the fear in Echo’s eyes until they adjusted and recognised the person that was outside the wardrobe. Lexa understood why Echo would be scared: she probably thought that it was Mr Griffin coming over to finish her off.

Echo’s eyes shifted into something slightly different. While it wasn’t completely hostile, it definitely wasn’t friendly either. She straightened her back and rubbed at her eyes with her sleeve, removing some tears that were on her face, seemingly wanting to appear as defiant and unaffected as possible. Except that Lexa could clearly see that Echo was affected. There was a huge swell at the side of her forehead that most likely came from the hit from the saucepan. There were also some scratches and blotches of blood littered around exposed skin that Lexa could see. Echo was clothed, but Lexa knew that underneath those clothes there would most likely be an expanse of skin that was bestrewed with an assortment of blue and green bruises.

“What do you want?” she gritted, face contorting slightly as she winced subtly at the effort of talking, especially with as much force as she was putting into her words right now.

“To help,” Lexa simply replied, feeling her anxiousness ebb away from her system.

“I don’t need _your_ help,” Echo spat, fixing Lexa with a look that looked suspiciously like contempt, but Lexa knew that it was more than that. “I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” Lexa replied laconically. She didn’t really want to deal with Echo’s stubbornness – she was hurt and she obviously needed help.

“I can help myself,” Echo grumbled, rolling her eyes, trying to get out of the wardrobe. As she tried to stand up, however, she wobbled dangerously, nearly losing her balance and tipping backwards. Lexa stopped that from happening, and effectively stopping Echo from hurting herself even more, by quickly wrapping her arms around the brunette, keeping her still. Echo couldn’t keep the grimace that coloured her expression as Lexa gripped onto her tightly, making sure that she doesn’t fall again. Yep, she definitely had bruises where Lexa was holding onto her, which was her midsection.

“You obviously can’t,” Lexa replied. “Look at yourself. You can’t even stand up straight.”

“Yes I can,” Echo grunted. “I’m _fine_.”

Lexa raised an eyebrow, then let go of Echo completely. Obviously not expecting Lexa to let go so suddenly, Echo’s legs gave way and she nearly crumbled to the ground. Lexa reattached her arms to Lexa’s midsection so that she could keep her upright, preventing her from falling.

“You’re not,” Lexa persisted. “Just let me help you, Echo. Your obstinate behaviour is not helping you.”

“ _Obstinate_?” Echo scoffed. “What are you, a scholar? Talk English, will you?”

“Stubborn,” Lexa rolled her eyes. “Echo, you’re hurt. You denying it will not change that.”

Echo looked like she wanted to protest for a short moment, but then she seemed to realise that Lexa was right. She let out a puff of air and deflated. She cast her eyes down.

“Just let me help you, okay?” Lexa said, softer this time.

Echo didn’t say anything back, but she gave her reply in the form of a nod.

Lexa put Echo’s left arm around her shoulder, helping her limp across the room until she set Echo down on the chair that sat at the side.

“Ow,” Echo muttered as she more like landed on top of the chair as opposed to sitting on it.

“Sorry,” Lexa breathed, crouching down in front of Echo so that she was looking up at her. After a few seconds of inspection, Lexa rose up to her full height again. “You’re really heavily bruised, Echo, and your head is all kinds of messed up. I’ll go get you some ice. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

When Echo gave the slightest nod, Lexa left the room in pursuit of some ice. She hoped that she didn’t come across Mr Griffin on her way, because she now knew what he was like. Whether or not he had always been like this is now insignificant, because all that matters to Lexa is the present. If Mr Griffin is abusive, then she had better stay as far away from him as possible.

It did take Lexa a short while, but it didn’t take her long to navigate her way around the house that is growing more and more familiar with each passing day and find the kitchen. Opening the door to the freezer that sat at the corner of the room, she rummaged through the packs of frozen food and meat, through many shelves of items until she found a bag that included ice that was meant for drinks. Taking the ice out, she looked through various cupboards for some cloth. Eventually, she found a face towel, and she set it flat on the table, tipping the bag of ice so that some cubes fell onto the towel. When she was satisfied, she wrapped the towel up and made her way back upstairs again.

Echo did not go anywhere, thankfully. Lexa didn’t fancy going on another expedition to find the young brunette. She was still sat on the chair, in the exact same position that Lexa had left her in. That made sense, Lexa guessed. After all, it probably hurt to move in the first place.

“This might sting a little,” Lexa said quietly, holding up the makeshift ice pack for Echo to see. When Echo hissed at the coldness when the towel came into contact with the swelled skin on her head, it reminded Lexa of how Clarke treated her bruises when she first came here. The marks were still there on her skin, the nasty green now faded into light brown and light red, but it no longer hurt, unless some kind of pressure had been exerted on it.

“How does it feel?” Lexa asked after a few minutes spent in silence. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable silence, but it was slightly awkward to hold an object onto Echo’s head and being in such close proximity.

“Painful,” Echo deadpanned.

“Well, I’ll just hold it there a little longer,” Lexa said, letting go of the ice pack with her right hand as it was starting to feel a little sore from holding it up for so long. Her left hand now filled the role that her right hand had taken. “Does anywhere else hurt?”

“Everywhere,” Echo sighed, closing her eyes. Then she opened her eyes again, and the look in her eyes changed into something that Lexa couldn’t read. “I’m sorry.”

Lexa raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For being so short with you,” Echo said. “I guess that I’m just jealous.”

“Jealous?” Lexa repeated. “Of me?”

“Yes,” Echo mumbled. “You’re Miss Griffin’s slave. She treats you well. Mr Griffin treats me, um, not so well.”

“Clarke is one-of-a-kind, yes,” Lexa said. “But you don’t know what I have been through before I got here. Is Mr Griffin your first master?” Echo nodded. “Well, if anything, Echo, you are _lucky_.”

“Me, lucky?” Echo scoffed. “Just look at what happened to me. How is that in any way lucky?”

“You should be thankful that this is all that has happened to you,” Lexa said, dark eyes filled with warning. “I’ve been through what you’ve been through, and worse. You should pray that he never sells you on.”

Echo rolled her eyes. “Really now. How much worse can it get?”

Lexa removed the ice pack from Echo’s head. “A lot worse,” Lexa said slowly. “At least your master doesn’t rape you.”

“Rape?” Echo spluttered. “What do you mean?”

Lexa flipped the towel so that the cold, unused side was now facing upwards. “Where does it hurt the most now?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Where?” Echo said. “Everywhere?”

Unamused, Lexa reached out with her right hand and started to press down on parts of Echo’s body with her hand, from the top to the bottom.

“What are you doing?” Echo squeaked. “Ow, ow, OW!” Echo yelled when Lexa reached Echo’s midsection.

“Okay, your stomach is next,” Lexa said, lifting up Echo’s shirt and stuffing the ice underneath it, so that it came into direct contact with her skin.

“Ah!” Echo winced. “That is cold!”

“That’s the point,” Lexa replied simply, holding the ice pack in position. “What happened here?”

“He just kicked me again and again,” Echo said through gritted teeth so that it sounded a little muffled. “It’s a wonder that I didn’t vomit.”

“You can’t vomit out contents of an empty stomach,” Lexa said. “Because there is simply nothing to throw up. Speaking of which, you must be hungry. What does Mr Griffin feed you?”

“His leftovers,” Echo grunted, still not adjusted to the coldness of the ice against her bruises. “He eats like a pig, so there usually isn’t much of that. It’s stupid, because I cook his food in the first place.”

“Why don’t you just eat what you cook? He can’t know, can he?” Lexa suggested.

“He shouldn’t,” Echo replied. “But I’m not going to risk it. If I get caught, I don’t think that I will like the consequences.”

“That’s a fair point,” Lexa thought for a short moment. “Well, how about you cook a bigger portion for me, and I’ll split it and you can eat half my share?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you get proper food now,” Echo sighed. “Must be nice, having Miss Griffin as your master.”

“I mean, it’s nice, because she doesn’t beat me up,” Lexa shrugged. “I guess that’s all that I can ask for, considering I’m a slave too.”

“A very privileged slave,” Echo said, somewhat resentfully. “But you seem to deserve it, I guess. You seem to have had a rough past. I saw you when you first arrived, and you were not in good shape.”

“No, I wasn’t,” Lexa agreed, giving a small wistful chuckle.

“But, yeah, your idea is good. I’ll cook more for you, and you can give me some of your share. You are allowed to do that, right?” Echo asked.

“I don’t see why I can’t,” Lexa shrugged. “They’re still ‘leftovers’,” Lexa did air quotes with her fingers. She then removed the ice pack from underneath Echo’s shirt and Echo let out a sigh of what seemed like relief. She held up the ice pack again. “Where next?”

Echo pointed to her right arm. “You may need a bit more ice. That’s already melting.”

Lexa looked at the drips of water that were coming out the bottom of the face towel. “You make a good point, Echo.”

XxX

“How are you feeling?” Lexa asked, as she watched Echo from the other side of the room, sitting against the wall. She wasn’t really sure how much time had passed, but when Echo felt well enough to hold the ice packs to her own wounds, she requested that she did it herself. Lexa let her do that, because holding ice packs to bare skin for prolonged periods of time was getting rather awkward, especially since Lexa had never talked to Echo before now.

“A lot better,” Echo grunted, shifting in her chair slightly to get into a more comfortable position. “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

“That’s good,” Lexa nodded. “Do let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

Echo didn’t say anything for a while, and Lexa just assumed that Echo had heard it and didn’t give a verbal reply. However, after a short while, Echo piped up.

“Look,” she sighed. “I know that I shouldn’t be asking you this, but um, can you please help me?”

Lexa frowned slightly and raised her head so that she was looking directly at the young brunette in front of her. “Okay,” she started. “What with?”

“It’s just that,” Echo cast her eyes down. “I-I don’t think that I can iron his clothes. Or cook his food. Um, with my hands like that, I’ll start dropping stuff and he’ll get mad and then I’ll get beaten up again…” Echo trailed off, burying her head into her hands.

If it wasn’t for the shaking of Echo’s shoulders, Lexa wouldn’t have thought that Echo was crying. She must have learnt to cry silently. It was a little weird how she wasn’t doing that when Lexa was trying to find her.

“Hey,” Lexa got to her feet and walked briskly to Echo’s side again. “That’s no problem. I’ll do your chores for you for the time being while you get better, okay?”

Echo peeked through the gaps between her fingers. “Really?” her voice sounded so small, so different from the defiant young woman that Lexa had seen when she first found her in the wardrobe.

“Really,” Lexa said sincerely. “I haven’t done chores in a long time, and since that’s all I had been doing these past few years it feels a little weird. My hands are literally itching to do chores,” Lexa lamely joked, but Echo laughed anyway. “It’s no problem, seriously. Just tell me what I have to do. Do you think that Mr Griffin would mind?”

Echo sighed and rubbed her eyes, ridding it of some stray tears. “I don’t see a reason why he would,” she said. “As long as it’s done, I don’t think he would mind.”

“That’s good,” Lexa smiled softly, trying her best to lighten up the situation. “But you can’t leave all the chores up to me,” Lexa said in mock warning. “We can share your duties. It makes both our lives more manageable.”

“It just makes my life more manageable,” Echo chuckled lightly, still rubbing at her eyes. “Miss Griffin doesn’t make you do anything. But really, I am so grateful that you are willing to help.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Lexa whispered. She then sighed, not sure if she wanted to venture into painful territory again. “Does… does Mr Griffin beat you up often?” she asked, a little apprehensive as to how Echo would respond.

Echo broke eye contact with Lexa. “I don’t know how much in comparison to other slaves,” she started. “Because he’s the only master I’ve ever had. I’m sure you’ve been through worse,” Echo met Lexa’s eyes again. “But, um, not really that much? He does beat me up quite badly sometimes, like today, but not that often. Maybe once a week? I don’t know, time is weird when you do the same thing every day.”

“I understand,” Lexa breathed.

“But he does hit me a lot,” Echo continued. “Like a punch to the stomach, a slap to the face, all sorts of stuff. Well, um, at least I don’t get raped or anything, so I should be grateful for that?”

“It’s truly a blessing,” Lexa said quietly. “Now I’m not justifying what Mr Griffin does to you, because it is cruel and it is not okay, not that we can do anything about it,” Lexa laughed slightly wistfully. “But, um, he is one of the better masters out there. I got my innocence taken from me when I was younger than you.”

Echo widened her eyes. “Y-Younger?”

“I was fourteen, to be precise,” Lexa did well to keep her eyes from glazing. “It was not nice. Anyway,” Lexa shook her head. “I’m glad that you don’t have to suffer through what I went through. I don’t wish that on anyone.”

“Oh, Lexa,” Echo mumbled, lips slightly pouted. “I don’t know what to say… that’s horrible.”

“It’s fine. All that matters is the present, right? Right now, I am not being abused, so I’m fine.”

“Yeah,” Echo nodded, adjusting the ice pack that rested on her thigh. “You’re so brave. I wish I was as brave as you. I can barely sleep well at night, like I jump when I hear the slightest sound. And I haven’t even been through half the things you’ve been through.”

“No, that’s perfectly understandable,” Lexa said. “I was like that when I first became a slave too. I never really stopped, until Clarke took me in. That’s when it all got better,” Lexa stopped for a moment to reflect happily on how her life got so much better during her stay in the Griffin Estate, despite what she initially thought when she was bought by Mr Griffin. But she realised that she was not doing that well in comforting Echo by saying that; if anything, she was just making her more jealous. “Echo, where do you sleep?” Lexa said, changing the subject partially.

“Just on the floor in a dingy room,” Echo answered.

“Doesn’t it get cold at night?” Lexa asked, fully knowing the answer.

“Yeah, it does,” Echo said. “But I got used to it over time.”

“Well, how about you come and sleep in my room? It’s in the basement, and it’s well ventilated. Plus I have a bed that we can take turns sleeping in,” Lexa offered.

Echo thought for a moment. “As much as I want to take that offer, I don’t think that I should,” Echo said regretfully. “There are times where my master would shout at me to make some food or something. If I don’t answer, and I most likely won’t if I’m in your room, he would come and find me. If he finds that I’m not in my room, um, bad things will happen.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” Lexa sighed. “Well, if you need anything, I’m here to help, okay?”

“Why are you so nice to me?” Echo asked.

“Do you not want me to be?” Lexa said, half-joking.

“No!” Echo said, voice slightly elevated. “Just… thank you. For everything. You are a really good friend.”

Friend. Hearing that word made Lexa’s insides warm. She had just made her first friend, and it felt amazing.

Lexa beamed. “So, where are the clothes that he told you to iron?”

XxX

“Where were you?” Clarke lifted her head as Lexa entered her room, going over to the other side to sit down.

“With Echo,” Lexa replied as she got comfortable with the cushioned chair, leaning her back against the backrest, giving a small sigh as her back was hurting a little with all the leaning forward she did to press the ice packs onto Echo.

“Oh,” Clarke breathed. “I couldn’t find you, or Echo for that matter.”

“You clearly weren’t looking hard enough,” Lexa said, then instantly bit her tongue. Yes, she knew by now that Clarke treated her as an equal, but that still didn’t mean that she could sass her master. “Sorry,” Lexa said, a lot quieter. “I was just in the room down the other end of the corridor,” Lexa explained. “Echo was hiding in the wardrobe.”

“Oh, that poor girl,” Clarke bit her lip. “Is she okay?”

“She wasn’t,” Lexa replied. “But she is now. I treated her wounds and helped her with her chores.”

“That’s really nice of you,” Clarke smiled softly and Lexa smiled back. Then the blonde’s expression hardened again. “How bad were the wounds?”

“Oh, you know, the usual,” Lexa shrugged. “The swelling on her head, bruises here and there all across her body, some scratches, and, um, some other stuff.”

Clarke’s grimace grew with every thing that Lexa listed. “God, that’s horrible,” Clarke shuddered. “I can’t believe that my dad would hurt a little girl. A little girl! A defenceless, helpless girl…”

“Hey,” Lexa said softly as Clarke’s eyes started to glaze. “It’s just how the world works. Think about it this way. Other masters out there rape little girls. Your dad doesn’t do that to Echo. That automatically makes him better than all those people out there.”

“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Clarke chuckled softly, but the sadness was still present in her demeanour. “I don’t know how you could stay so strong, so optimistic after all you’ve been through, Lexa. You’re amazing.”

Lexa felt her face burn slightly at Clarke’s compliment. “T-Thanks,” she gave a small smile. “I don’t get that a lot.”

“You are,” Clarke persisted. “If I was in your position I would most definitely not be where you are now,” she said. “God, I don’t even know what I would do if I was in your position. You’re so strong.”

“You kind of have to be, I think that you would be just as strong as me if you were in my position,” Lexa said softly. “I like you, Clarke. You’re the only good non-slave I’ve ever met.”

Clarke smiled bashfully and ducked her head. “I’m sure that’s not true,” she mumbled. “My dad was a good person before everything went downhill.”

“Look, Clarke,” Lexa started tentatively. “I know that I shouldn’t ask, and you don’t have to answer at all, but what happened to your family? You have mentioned how your family was a lot better before your dad changed, I can tell by the pictures that I see around the house. Your family is really mysterious, I have heard many things about your family before I was sold to you and none of their rumours seem to be true. Did something happen to you, Clarke?”

Clarke stared onwards in Lexa’s general direction with a blank look. A bit of time filled with a silence that was growing more and more awkward and tense passed.

“Look, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be saying stuff like this,” Lexa started to backtrack. “I know that I shouldn’t ask questions that you aren’t comfortable answering, I’m sorry. Can we forget that I asked?”

“No,” Clarke said, voice barely audible. She shook her head slightly. “No, I think that you deserve to know.” She took a deep breath. “Look, Lexa, what I am about to tell you, I have never told anyone.”

Lexa felt her heart rate increase in anticipation of information that was about to come. Information that was going to explain everything… hopefully. Deep inside, she was glad that Clarke trusted her enough to tell her things that she claimed to have not told anyone else. It made her feel special, and that was a fantastic feeling.

Lexa held her breath as Clarke started to speak again.

“It all started with what happened to my mother.”


	6. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I left the last chapter on a cliffhanger, I'm not eager to make you guys wait a whole week, so here's a shorter chapter that explains everything! Enjoy the mid-week update!

Lexa remembered that when she was young, her mother would sneak moments alone with her late at night, allowing her to cuddle into her chest. The older brunette would stroke Lexa’s hair slowly, sometimes singing a lullaby to soothe her into sleep. Lexa remembered how she had been petulant at times, demanding for things that her mother simply couldn’t provide, and it wasn’t later that she realised that the sounds she thought that she heard when she was asleep were actually the sound of her mother’s whimpers at the inability to support her child and give her what she deserves.

At other times, her mother would slip into Lexa’s closet where she sleeps to bring little rations of bread accompanied with strawberry jam. Lexa would eat that very slowly, savouring every nibble that blossomed flavour through every taste bud in her tongue. It, too, wasn’t until later that she realised that her mother wasn’t allowed to do that – sometimes she would cook for her master and since she was in the kitchen, she could smuggle some food for the young brunette that had no idea then what this world was like.

A little bit like Clarke, really. From what Lexa had seen so far, Clarke seemed to have no idea how horrible this world was, what masters really did to their slaves. Her mother made Lexa feel special and loved by all those little things that didn’t seem significant at first, like a little slice of bread, but would turn out to be very significant in the future. However, her mother is no longer the sole person that made Lexa feel special. Clarke is starting to fill that role. Sometimes, Lexa couldn’t help but think that it was her mother’s tender spirit that blessed her with kind fate, by bringing her into the Griffin Estate. However, that would be under the assumption that her mother was dead, and Lexa’s heart clenched at that thought. She would not believe that is the case – she would never think that until she saw her corpse right in front of her.

The sound of Clarke speaking again broke Lexa out of her train of thought. After that clear and concise sentence that Clarke had said, a few moments had passed as Clarke seemed to gather all the information she needed.

“Um, ah,” Clarke faltered, as if the information that she was about to disclose was very difficult to tell. Maybe she wasn’t ready after all.

“Look, you don’t have to tell me if you aren’t ready,” Lexa held out a hand to illustrate her point.

“No, I want to,” Clarke persisted, giving an awkward clear of the throat and biting her lower lip into her mouth. “I have to tell you, because I fear that I will never be able to tell you again.”

Lexa let out a small exhale. “Okay,” she breathed softly, soothing, encouraging. It reminded her of the way that her mother would soothe her, but Lexa quickly pushed down the thoughts of her mother. Sometimes, it really hurt to think about her, because she missed her so much. She wondered how her mother was doing.

“Okay,” Clarke let out a deep breath. There was a small moment that was filled with serene silence, and then Clarke spoke up again. “So, um, as I am sure that you already know from all the pictures around the house, that we were a happy family. All rainbows and sunshine, you know? I didn’t know the true horrors of this world, until you came here, Lexa,” Clarke’s sapphire eyes met Lexa’s deep green ones, and Lexa simply remained quiet, not wanting to interrupt Clarke, who is obviously finding it quite hard to say all of this. “Anyway,” Clarke chuckled a little wistfully. “Sorry, I’m going on a tangent. I’m sure that you realise that the pictures are all quite old, at least the ones that look like we’re actually enjoying life. It happened two years ago. When my mother was taken from me.”

Lexa’s eyes widened. Could this be like how her own mum was taken from her? But Clarke is not a slave, why would her mother be ripped away from her arms just like Lexa’s mum?

“Um, maybe that’s not the right… term,” Clarke continued, and she bit her lip again. She did well to keep her voice from breaking, but Lexa could tell that Clarke was desperately trying not to cry, and it made her wonder what had happened to her mum for Clarke to be like this. “My mum, um, was just… gone one day. I didn’t actually see it happen, so, um, I didn’t believe it at first. It wasn’t until I turned up and saw it in my own eyes that I was forced to accept what really happened.”

Lexa was confused. “What do you mean?” Lexa asked quietly, voicing her confusion.

“Okay, I’m not going to sugar-coat this anymore,” Clarke was losing her resolve to keep a stiff exterior. “My mother was murdered.” Her voice didn’t break, but Lexa could tell that it pained the blonde greatly to say that. She understood. If her mother had been murdered, saying it out loud would just be accepting that, no more denial. She had a feeling that this was the first time that Clarke had said that out loud.

But more than anything, Lexa was shocked. Shocked that her mother had suffered such a tragic fate. Now Clarke had not given any details yet, but why would someone of such high class be murdered? By who? How?

“She was murdered, one day, just like this,” Clarke snapped her fingers. “She was just going shopping.”

Clarke squeezed her eyes shut for a short while, and Lexa sat there fidgeting with her fingers uncomfortably. She didn’t know what to say.

“So, um, I haven’t seen it happen, I don’t think that I would be able to live with it if I did, but it is said that she was going shopping when two people started to run towards her. My mum didn’t know what was happening, so she just kept walking down the pavement, paying them no mind, but when the two people started to try and steal her bag, she tried to resist. The two people were trying to escape, witnesses said, and had no time, so one of them just stabbed her in the stomach with a knife, and took the bag and took off.” Clarke’s voice was starting to break now, and a single tear slid down her cheek.

“Clarke,” Lexa said quietly, feeling pain and anguish at Clarke’s mother’s tragic fate.

“The ambulance couldn’t come quick enough. No one helped. No one called the ambulance until it was too late. They couldn’t save her. They couldn’t save her…” This time, Clarke couldn’t hold the tears back anymore and a choked sob escaped her throat. “If only I was there, I could’ve helped her. I could’ve saved her. I didn’t know until it was too late…”

“Clarke,” Lexa got up and hurried over and sat next to Clarke, putting a hand on her back and rubbing gently. “You couldn’t have done anything. It’s not your fault.”

Clarke let out a shaky breath. “There’s a little bit more,” she said, wiping a stray tear and her expression hardened. “The police found the perpetrators in the end. They were two slaves who escaped from their master one day and needed money, so they mugged my mum. My mum resisted, so they killed her. That’s why ever since, my dad has hated slaves. He buys them to be tools, punching bags, treats them like they are garbage.”

Lexa suddenly felt fear course through her system. Now that she understood why Clarke’s dad hated slaves, shouldn’t it be that Clarke harboured the same hate towards slaves herself? After all, it is people of Lexa’s class that did that to Clarke’s mum. Rather instinctively, Lexa detached herself from Clarke’s side and stood up again, blood pounding with adrenaline.

Clarke looked a little hurt. “Lexa, you’ve got to know that I have nothing against slaves,” she hurried to say, as if reading the reason behind Lexa’s actions. “Yes, what they did to my mum was… abominable, but it happened, and as much as I want to change it, I can’t. You did nothing wrong. Echo did nothing wrong. I just hate the people who took my mum away from me, not the people who share the same social status, okay?”

Clarke was convincing, words spoke with conviction in an unwavering manner, but Lexa could see the desperateness in her cerulean eyes, pleading, screaming for Lexa to believe her.

And of course, Lexa did. With everything now in the open, Lexa could more or less work out the rest without Clarke telling her. After the ordeal with her mum’s murder, her father had harboured undying hate for slaves ever since until this very day and treated them without any care, abusing them as he pleases. It chilled Lexa to the bone to think about what happened to the slaves that her dad no longer needs. Given the context now, they were most likely killed. Did that mean that Echo would suffer the same fate? It made Lexa twitch to think about how Echo was going to be disposed of. Lexa blinked to bring her mind back to the blonde before her. With the truth now unveiled, Lexa suddenly felt a warm feeling gush through her, of what it was she wasn’t so sure yet, but she was sure that she felt something that was described to be butterflies in her stomach. She just felt an overwhelming need to hug the blonde close. What she had just said was obviously very difficult to say, and took great courage, so Lexa admired Clarke greatly for that.

When Lexa moved forward again and took Clarke’s body into her arms, Clarke let herself deflate and let her body shake with sobs. No words were exchanged, just Lexa humming subconsciously, rocking the two of them back and forth as Clarke uttered incoherent words into the stark air through her sobs.

Lexa felt something change between the two of them. Like, some kind of tethering, some kind of string binding them together at this moment. But she dismissed the thought, she was never good at metaphorical and abstract ideas. She just concentrated at the task at hand, humming quietly, holding the blonde as they rocked back and forth.

Back and forth. Back and forth. A peaceful rhythm, as the air thickened with grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that more or less concludes the first part of the story, and from now on we will see Clarke and Lexa start to tumble past friend territory and beyond...  
> Although the number of unique reviewers is decreasing with every chapter posted, which leads me to think that maybe people aren't interested in this story anymore. Should I keep writing?  
> Anyway, take care!


	7. Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for the overwhelming response to the last chapter.  
> I was clearly mistaken before, and I now intend to keep going!

It had now been a month or so since Clarke had opened herself and revealed the reason behind her family’s downfall, and over this time Lexa had made herself busy with chores that were placed upon Echo’s shoulders by Mr Griffin. It wasn’t that bad, as they were pretty simple things in Lexa’s opinion, like doing the laundry and dishwashing, but Lexa could understand how it could be overwhelming for just one person. Echo insisted that Lexa’s efforts and help do not go unpaid, so Echo has started making food that Lexa had grown to really like over the weeks more often. Of course, Echo benefitted from that as well, as Lexa had been leaving a rather generous portion as her “leftover” for Echo to eat, so needless to say, Echo was doing a lot better, and Lexa was really happy about that.

Over the past few weeks, while Lexa’s friendship with Echo intensified, her friendship with Clarke had also grown. For some reason, over the past few days, Lexa had started to realise how beautiful Clarke’s eyes were. It was a nice and serene cerulean blue, and Lexa just wanted to spend ages lost at sea, swimming in those blue eyes. Okay, that didn’t sound that great, but Lexa’s abstract ideas and metaphors are still in the development stage.

Anyway, Clarke had told Lexa that she felt that a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she confided in the brunette, and Lexa could definitely see the change in the blonde’s demeanour. She was a little less guarded, and… Lexa found it a little difficult to describe, but it was definitely good. Lexa remembered how she blurted out how she really liked Clarke’s eyes by accident one day and Clarke blushed and replied that she really liked Lexa’s eyes too. Lexa probably should have seen that coming, but those words stuck to her head for a long time and each time she remembered those words come out of Clarke’s mouth, her insides went all fuzzy and warm.

Lexa was just concentrating on hanging the freshly washed clothes on the drying racks when Clarke suddenly appeared behind her. The brunette jumped when she felt warm hands on her shoulder, whipping around in alarm, but when she saw that it was only Clarke, her expression softened and she sighed in relief.

“Hey,” Lexa said, feeling her alertness start to fade as she turned around to hang some wet T-shirts on the rack.

“Hey yourself,” Clarke smiled, taking her hands off Lexa’s shoulders and putting them on her wrists instead, stopping Lexa’s motions of putting the shirt on the rack. “My daddy’s not home, for once.”

Lexa turned to meet Clarke’s sapphire gaze, slightly bewildered. “But your dad goes to work all the time,” she noted.

“I know,” Clarke said, still beaming. “But he’s away for the night, so we get the house all to ourselves today.”

“Okay?” Lexa gave a half-smile, still a little confused. “Why is that something to be so excited about?”

“Because!” Clarke enthused. When a few more seconds passed in silence, just Lexa staring at Clarke, waiting for more, Clarke spoke again. “It means that we can do whatever we want! Without him finding out!”

“Oh,” Lexa said. “Well, I mean I still have these things to do,” she gestured to the laundry basket and the drying rack.

“Don’t worry about that,” Clarke drawled, pulling Lexa away from the drying rack. “Come on, let’s do something fun. We can go out!”

For some reason, the words “go out” coming out of Clarke’s mouth made Lexa blush. “Um, what do you mean?” she stuttered.

“What I mean is…” Clarke chuckled at Lexa’s flushed face. “Let’s get out of here. You can experience the city life.”

“Out of here?” Lexa’s eyebrows creased slightly. “City life?”

“Yeah!” Clarke shook Lexa’s arms back and forth with her hands. “We can go and eat some food… get you some new clothes… enjoy the outside world! Just you and me. Sound good?”

Lexa glanced down and looked at the plain T-shirt that she was wearing along with some worn-down jeans. To be fair, she was quite curious as to what it felt like to wear something different. All her life she had been wearing dull stuff like robes and shirts, so new clothes sounded like a good idea. Also, Lexa had never been anywhere but the houses of her masters and the slave trade market, so exploring the city with Clarke was also very appealing. In addition, the idea of Clarke and Lexa alone, going out for some food, who was Lexa to turn that down?

“Yeah,” Lexa smiled. “But what about these?” Since her hands were still restricted by Clarke’s grip, she turned her head to gesture the vague direction of where the laundry sat. “They need to be done still. Plus I have to hoover the lounge and clean the bathtub.”

“He won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon, we’ll do them together tomorrow, okay? Please come? It will be fun!” Clarke even went as far as to pout, and Lexa just couldn’t resist her. But there was one more thing.

“But… what about Echo?” Lexa asked.

“She’s fine with us leaving, I already talked to her,” Clarke said eagerly. “She’ll be watching TV when we’re gone, she’ll keep herself entertained. Don’t worry about her, okay? Please come? Pretty please?” Clarke batted her eyelashes a little and Lexa laughed internally at the sight.

“Okay,” she sighed, acting reluctant. “When do we leave?”

“Now, I guess,” Clarke looked at her wrist, where there was a watch. “We can walk there, it’s not that far. We can do some shopping and then we can get some food. Do you want to get dressed or something?”

Lexa looked down. “I don’t think there’s any need to do that,” she said. “I don’t have anything to wear.”

“Well, that will soon be fixed,” Clarke’s smile emerged on her face again, and Lexa found that she really liked the way Clarke’s face glowed when she is in a good mood. “Should we go now?”

“I’m nearly done with that,” Lexa pointed to the laundry basket. “So we’ll leave when I get this done, okay? It will be ten minutes, maximum.”

“Okay,” Clarke agreed, and Lexa moved back to hang clothes on the rack. After a few minutes of comfortable silence as Lexa delved into her work, Clarke seemed to burst with impatient energy.

“This is taking too long,” she muttered, getting to her feet and picking up some trousers, hanging them up. “I’ll help you so that we can leave earlier, okay?”

Lexa laughed softly. “You’re really eager to get away from here, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Clarke said, picking up another pair of trousers. “This is a rare opportunity! And I get to spend it with you.”

When blue eyes met green ones, Lexa could feel some tension hovering through the air between them, but she decided to not comment on it. Subconsciously, she felt her lips break into a smile.

XxX

Lexa had been walking alongside Clarke for a little more than half an hour now, and she found herself growing more and more restless with anticipation and excitement. When she had asked Clarke where they were going, Clarke had said that they were going to the centre of town where the city was bustling, and filled to the brim of things to do and filled with shops. Lexa could see the clear sky, a colour that reminded her of Clarke’s eyes, as well as the bright sun which gave so much light that Lexa had to squint a little bit because she was used to the darkness that accompanied all the time she spent in the confines of her past masters’ estates.

Lexa’s excitement only grew when she could make out some tall buildings in the distance, and when she enquired Clarke as to what they were, Clarke simply said that they were business office blocks and some residency areas. Later, she added that this meant that they were getting close to town. Lexa thought that the buildings were beautiful – the architecture was done intricately and there were buildings that were narrow and went in spirally patterns, as if it was constantly twisting. It was really beautiful, and it awed her to no end.

When they got close enough to the tall buildings the density of people in the pavements increased, and Lexa could hear the constant sound of cars that were passing by them frequently. It was refreshing pleasant. Clarke looked like she wanted to say something, but then she decided against it, and hooked Lexa’s arm in hers. When Lexa looked over, silently asking, Clarke had simply replied that she didn’t want the brunette to be lost.

It wasn’t much longer until the two girls made it into the centre of town. It amazed Lexa how people just shoved past her and paid her no mind. It was almost like she was one of them – normal, not inferior like all of these people around her who could afford to buy luxury items and eat proper food.

“What’s the matter?” Clarke asked, sensing Lexa’s heightened emotions.

“It’s nothing,” Lexa smiled. “This is amazing!”

“Yeah, well,” Clarke ducked her head. “It kind of loses its awesomeness after a few times coming here,” she admitted. “But it’s nice to be out and about with you, though, so I don’t mind.”

Lexa felt her cheeks heat up at Clarke’s admission. “I’ve never seen anything like this before,” she gushed. “The people don’t even recognise me as a slave! I almost feel… normal.”

“That’s because you _are_ just like one of us, a person,” Clarke whispered sincerely. “Except, you aren’t normal. You’re special.”

Lexa met Clarke’s eyes. “Special?” she echoed, questioningly.

“Yes,” Clarke said. “You are the bravest and strongest person I’ve met, and you have such a kind heart. You’re amazing.”

Lexa dipped her head shyly. “I think you’re amazing too,” she said quietly. “You’re the only good person that I know that isn’t a slave. So, thank you for that. You almost make me feel like I’m one of you now.”

“You are to me,” Clarke replied. “Which is why you should get new clothes. I bet you’ll look absolutely gorgeous when we style you up,” Clarke winked and Lexa felt herself blushing again. Lexa wasn’t sure why she was blushing so much. Maybe it was because of the bright sun that was beaming upon them. Yeah, it was definitely the sun. It was quite hot, after all.

“So where should we go?” Lexa asked, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible.

Clarke gave a wide smile. “Well, this is where it gets a _little_ difficult,” she drawled. “There’s quite a lot of places to choose from. Come,” she said, starting to guide Lexa with their linked arms towards a complex towards the right side. “We’ll start over here.”

XxX

Lexa kind of lost track of time as they went from shop to shop. Truth be told, even though they haven’t bought anything yet, she has had a lot of fun so far. While clothes shopping may not be the most fun of activities for someone of the higher class, she found it quite interesting, how people design the patterns on the clothes. Sometimes, she and Clarke would stumble into some fashion shop where all the price tags were eye-watering, but Lexa had to admit that the clothes looked really interesting, but in a good way. There were also some dresses that Lexa saw lined up on the clothes rack and Clarke would get one and hold it in front of Lexa’s body and gush about how nice she would look in those.

Even though Clarke had told Lexa that she could get anything, that money was not an issue, Lexa still didn’t buy anything. It was because people like her were never meant to wear anything that masters wore, and if she was caught wearing a dress or something she would probably get a lot of reprimanding and scolding. Especially if Mr Griffin caught her wearing a dress, that would be very bad.

“You’ve got to get something,” Clarke pouted as they walked to the other side of the complex into another clothes shop. “I don’t understand why you didn’t let me buy the red dress back there, I know you liked it.”

“I don’t think that a dress is practical,” Lexa replied. “I don’t want to be scrubbing the bathroom floor in that. Plus, I’m not allowed to wear that kind of stuff anyway.”

“Who says?” Clarke said, slightly exasperated. “I don’t care. It looks good on you. If other people aren’t okay with it then screw them.”

“It’s fine,” Lexa reassured. “Let’s just get something comfortable. That’s all I need.”

“Fine,” Clarke frowned slightly. “Seriously, don’t worry about the price tags, if that is what you are worried about. You deserve to be treated.”

“Okay,” Lexa said. “Let’s just keep looking, okay? I don’t mind wandering around. Do you?”

Clarke met Lexa’s eyes. “No, of course not. I like it, just the two of us,” she said with a small smile.

Lexa reciprocated her smile, walking off to the other side of the room where all the shirts and hoodies were located. “Hey, look at this one,” she said with a small laugh, holding up a plain white shirt with a picture of a cartoon yellow duck in the middle of it. “It’s cute.”

“Hmm?” Clarke quickly caught up and took a look at what Lexa was holding. “A duck shirt?”

“Yeah!” Lexa said, holding the shirt up to Clarke’s body, imagining the picture of the blonde wearing it. “You’ll look amazing in it.”

“It’s cute alright,” Clarke agreed. “But it’s not my type. Hey, maybe we should get that for you, if you like it, that is.”

Lexa thought for a short moment, whether she should purchase the shirt in her hands or not, before she decided against it and set it back on the rack. “Nah, let’s keep looking,” she said, moving down the aisle. A few minutes passed in quiet, as Lexa wandered down the aisle, looking through the wide assortment of clothing in a spectrum of colours before she realised that Clarke was nowhere to be seen.

“Clarke?” Lexa called, starting to feel panic grip her at the prospect of being lost and not being able to make it back to the Griffin Estate by herself. If she ever gets found and gets recognised as a slave, she will not like the consequences. Especially if the person who finds her is Mr Griffin. He would probably force Clarke to concede ownership and dispose of her himself. Lexa blinked, not wanting to think about what would happen if she got lost. Feeling her feet take her at an increasing pace, Lexa called, “Clarke?” again, now breaking off into a gentle jog.

When she made it to a clearing in the shop, Lexa whipped her head around rapidly, trying to gather her surroundings and desperately trying to locate the blonde. Lexa felt herself start to breathe rapidly, panic holding her in a vice-grip. She turned to sprint down another aisle when she suddenly felt someone grip her shoulders.

Lexa turned around to meet the person who was behind her, blood pounding in her ears. A great wave of relief flooded through her when she saw who the person was.

“I heard you calling,” Clarke said, looking slightly worried. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lexa found herself smiling due to relief. “I just thought that I lost you.”

“Aww,” Clarke cooed, bringing the brunette into a hug. “You know that I won’t leave you, right? You’re stuck with me.”

Lexa felt her heart swell at Clarke’s words. “I know that now you say it,” Lexa sighed happily, feeling herself melt into the blonde’s embrace. Ever since Clarke had told the tragic story of her mother, the two girls had been much more touchy-feely with each other, and Lexa found that she really liked it. These long hugs, however, weren’t that common, so Lexa relished every second of it.

After a while, Clarke let go and held the brunette at arm’s length. “Come,” she said excitedly. “I found something that I think that you will like,” she enthused, letting go of Lexa and starting to pull her by one arm towards a direction that Lexa presumed that Clarke was just at when Lexa was finding her.

It wasn’t long until they reached their destination, and Clarke pointed proudly at some clothes that were sitting folded on a table. When Lexa looked at Clarke quizzically, Clarke simply beamed and picked up a white shirt and a black shirt. She gave Lexa the white shirt, and kept the black shirt to herself.

“Okay?” The white shirt sat limply in Lexa’s hand. “Um, what is this?”

“Unfold it,” Clarke said, already unfolding her own shirt.

Lexa did as Clarke said, and when the front of the shirt was fully in view, she saw the word “BEST” printed in black on the plain white shirt, as well as a right-pointing arrow underneath it, that had a sideways heart instead of the sharp triangle that one would normally see in an arrow.

“What does this mean?” she asked, holding up the shirt for Clarke to see. Best didn’t mean anything by itself, right? And what was the arrow for?

“Just watch,” Clarke smiled, holding up her shirt. Her shirt was a plain black colour, except there was some white text saying “FRIENDS” printed on it, and a left-pointing arrow with a sideways heart underneath the text. Lexa studied the shirt for a while, before realising that the two shirts were matching and it read “best friends” with arrows pointing to each other.

Clarke seemed to misread Lexa’s long silence. “Um, Lexa?” she said tentatively, smile disappearing from her face. “It’s too much, isn’t it?” she sighed, dejectedly folding up her shirt again and moving to put the shirt on the table. “Don’t worry, just forget about it, I just really liked it and I thought that you would –”

“No!” Lexa cut off Clarke’s cute rambling by putting a hand on her wrist, preventing her from putting the shirt away. “I like it too, I think it’s beautiful.”

“Really?” Clarke said quietly, hope making its way back into her beautiful, cerulean eyes.

“Really,” Lexa smiled, holding up the white shirt again and taking a good look at it. “D-Do you really mean it?” she said.

“Mean what?” Clarke enquired.

“What it says on the shirts?” Lexa elaborated. “That we’re best friends?”

“Oh!” Clarke’s cheeks started to pink. “I-I just thought that we – I just thought that maybe we were friends, and um, I just really like you Lexa, and you seem to want to be my friend too, and I just thought that we could be… um, best friends, you know? J-Just forget it, it’s okay,” Clarke gave a small smile, cheeks now red with embarrassment. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I really like you too,” Lexa said, feeling her cheeks start to pink at the admission. This almost felt like… something else, like they’re confessing something else completely, but Lexa quickly pushed that thought aside. The prospect of _that_ was completely foreign, and that is not what Clarke is looking for, right? Definitely not. “I think that these shirts will be perfect,” she said, gesturing to the pieces of clothing that they both held. “I’m so glad, Clarke.”

“So… we are best friends, right? I don’t really have many of them, and I like you the most, and –” Clarke started to ramble again, but Lexa quickly put a finger on Clarke’s lips, silencing her.

“I want to be, that would be amazing. Do you?” Lexa said quietly.

“Yes,” Clarke breathed.

“That’s settled then,” Lexa said, feeling a great surge of elation wash through her system. “Should we go and buy these?”

“Definitely,” Clarke beamed, skipping off towards the checkout. Lexa smiled to herself and followed.

XxX

“Where are we?” Lexa said, giggling as she got blindly led through the streets, weaving through countless people.

Clarke kept on covering Lexa’s eyes with her hands. “You’ll see,” she teased playfully.

“Come on, we’ve been like this for so long!” Lexa whined. “I want to be able to see again!”

“Patience, honey,” Clarke laughed, and Lexa felt her heart jolt at the term of endearment. “We haven’t even been walking that long. It’s only been like what, ten minutes?”

“That’s ten minutes too long!” Lexa grumbled, shaking her head, trying to get Clarke to let go and let her see again.

“Nuh-uh,” Clarke scolded lightly as she righted Lexa’s head so that the brunette was no longer struggling. “We’re nearly there. We just need to walk down the street and turn the corner.”

“Fine,” Lexa said petulantly. “I’ll wait.”

“Good choice,” Lexa could feel that Clarke was smiling, just by the way she spoke. “You will not regret it.”

“Where are you taking me anyway?” Lexa asked, just as Clarke steered her to the right to avoid what Lexa assumed to be a person walking by.

“That would defeat the point of it being a surprise, wouldn’t it?” Clarke said, amused.

“Come on!” Lexa pled. “I let you buy those shirts that we are wearing right now.”

“You know you want it too,” Clarke smirked.

“I guess I do,” Lexa conceded, and from then on she walked obediently towards the direction that Clarke was steering in.

After a few moments, which felt like an eternity to Lexa because she was overridden with excitement and curiosity, Clarke pulled back on Lexa’s shoulders, prompting her to stop. Lexa could smell some aromas that instinctively made the insides of her mouth water.

“Are we here?” Lexa asked.

“Yep,” Clarke replied. “Welcome to…” Clarke removed her hands from Lexa’s eyes. “The night market.”

Lexa’s eyes spent a little bit of time to adjust, because her pupils were very dilated due to having seen nothing but darkness for a long time. At first, all she could make out was bright light, so she squinted, but when things started to get less blurry and bright she was able to make sense of her surroundings.

Lexa could not begin to describe what she saw. Of course, there was the smell that made her mouth water because there was an abundance of live, hot cooking all around them with vendors handing customers food after the latter had paid. The place was vibrant: there was a plethora of colours and lights all around her and it was slightly overwhelming. It was astonishing.

“Cool, right?” Clarke said and Lexa jumped: she had been so enthralled by what was around her that she had forgotten that Clarke was right next to her.

“Yeah,” Lexa breathed, still in awe.

“Come, let’s go get some food. What do you want first?” Clarke asked, smiling, as she too took a 360 turn to look at the choices that they had.

“I-I don’t know,” Lexa said. “Anything, I guess? It smells so good.”

“I know, right?” Clarke chuckled. “I feel like I could eat an elephant right now. Why don’t we start on the left-hand side,” Clarke pointed with her finger at a stall that was on the other side of the street. “And we can just walk down and visit every one. If you see something you like, we’ll get it, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Lexa said and the two girls made their way towards where Clarke pointed.

After a while of walking past various stalls that sold many different types of food, such as some selling grilled steak and some selling confectionery and candy floss, a particularly good smelling stall caught Lexa’s eye.

“Hmm, that looks good,” Lexa said, pointing to a stall on their right. “Can we eat there?”

“Yeah sure,” Clarke replied, craning her neck to see where Lexa was pointing. “Oh, you want burritos?”

“Burritos?” Lexa parroted.

“Yeah, that’s what they sell. They’re pretty good, you want to eat it?”

“What’s it like?” Lexa asked.

“Um, well, I don’t have it often, but it’s like a wrap with stuff like minced beef inside it. You can try it, if you want.” Clarke replied.

“Okay yeah, sure,” Lexa said, puffing out some visible air in the crisp, cool night. “It would be nice to eat something hot anyway.”

With that, the two girls went and when the person behind the counter asked them what they wanted inside the wrap, Lexa was at a loss.

“Um, what’s good?” she asked Clarke timidly.

“Just get that one,” she pointed to a picture that showed a burrito containing minced beef and cabbage. “That’s what I’m going to get, anyway.” So Lexa told the vendor what she wanted, and when they finally got handed their food a few minutes later, Clarke suggested that they went and sat somewhere to eat, and Lexa agreed.

It was a little difficult to find an empty place to sit, as the place was bustling, so they opted to just eat at the side of the pavement where there were fewer people.

Lexa couldn’t help but realise how good Clarke looked in the moonlight, away from all the noise in the middle of the street. One side of her face was illuminated, showing clear blue eyes that Lexa had grown to like, the other side in the shadows. Her hair was loose, floating slightly under the gentle breeze.

“Is something the matter?” Clarke’s voice snapped Lexa out of her thoughts. “The food is going to go cold.”

“Oh yeah,” Lexa gave a nervous laugh, and sunk her teeth into the tortilla wrap. The contents inside the wrap exploded with delicious flavour as Lexa tried to chew, and she couldn’t stifle the moan that escaped her throat.

Clarke laughed. “That good, huh?” Lexa nodded. “Well, this is only the beginning. We have a long way to go, Lex, so save your stomach.”

Lexa smiled. This night was still young, she still had more delicious food to come, and most importantly, she was spending it with Clarke, alone.

XxX

When Clarke finally opened the front door to the Griffin Estate, Lexa just wanted to crash on the couch and just stay there. The brunette’s stomach was so full, so bloated that she felt like throwing up. There was never a time in her life that she thought that she would be in pain due to an overflow of food, so this feeling was rather refreshing, but it didn’t mean that Lexa enjoyed it.

Over the last few hours, Lexa had been nonstop eating. All different types of cultures, she had some kind of fried rice that she found surprisingly good, some raw seafood that was wrapped with rice with some black strips of something which she couldn’t remember the name of, some of what Clarke called “Italian” food including what Clarke had said was her favourite, lasagne, as well as some burgers with steaks and hot dogs. If someone told Lexa that she would feel sick because she ate too much half a year ago, Lexa would’ve laughed in their face and said “impossible” faster than they could’ve blinked.

While Lexa sighed in part discomfort of her cramping stomach and satisfaction of all the delicious food that she had eaten just a while ago, Clarke didn’t look at ease at all.

“What’s the matter?” Lexa asked, doubling over slightly because she was so full.

“It’s probably nothing,” Clarke said slowly, then started to walk briskly towards the lounge.

When Lexa followed her and got to the entrance of the lounge, she saw Clarke walking straight out and up the stairs, looking slightly panicked.

“Clarke, is something wrong?” Lexa asked, trying her best to catch up to the rapid blonde.

“Echo’s not here,” Clarke said, looking back and meeting Lexa’s eyes.

“Maybe she’s sleeping?” Lexa suggested. “It’s quite late, after all.”

“I don’t think so,” Clarke replied. “Echo?” she called. “Echo!”

There was no response.

“I shouldn’t have left her at home alone,” Clarke said, movements still frantic. “Something could’ve happened to her.”

“Or she could’ve escaped,” Lexa shrugged, saying the first thing that popped in her head.

Clarke halted. She turned around so slowly and her face screamed pure fear. “Shit,” she whispered. “Daddy specifically told me to keep an eye on her when he’s gone. If she’s really gone, then I’m done for.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Lexa tried to reassure the blonde, but even she knew that the possibility of Echo escaping was plausible. “We’ll go find her, okay?”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Clarke said, fear still etched into her face but she was now moving with purpose and determination. “She could be sleeping, so hopefully she’s still here.”


	8. Stars

Lexa decided to not split up with Clarke as the blonde walked rapidly around the whole house, looking into every room. Clarke would open the door to a room, call out Echo’s name, then she would go inside. She was very fast, so by the time Lexa caught up to the blonde who was growing more and more desperate, Clarke would’ve walked out the room and moved on to the next one.

Lexa could imagine how Clarke was feeling. It was probably like the desperation that she had felt earlier today when she thought that she had been left alone in the clothes store. Although why Clarke would be so hell-bent on finding her dad’s slave, she didn’t know. So what if Echo escaped? It was good for her, to be able to get out of the grips of her abusive master. Although Echo’s disappearance might lead to some other undesirable things to happen. Either Mr Griffin would just go and buy another slave to do the chores for him, or he might revoke Clarke’s ownership to be Lexa’s master and Mr Griffin would become her master instead. The thought of that made Lexa’s blood run cold. She didn’t know if Mr Griffin would be allowed to do that, though, as she is technically Clarke’s property.

The thought of her being Clarke’s property made her insides all warm and fuzzy. She didn’t exactly know why.

So, what would be the worst-case scenario? Lexa would become Mr Griffin’s slave, then what? Upon second thought, it wouldn’t be _that_ bad. Going through what Echo had to go through isn’t nearly as bad as what she had to go through when she was owned by other masters. Although that does mean that she will get to see Clarke a lot less. And that made Lexa’s insides squirm.

But what would happen to Echo, if she escaped into the outside world? How will she get anything to eat? How will she survive? She has no shelter, no food, no money. Or did she steal some money from home? But there wouldn’t be that much cash lying around the estate. What if Echo was caught and identified as a slave? She will either be dragged back to her rightful owner, and Lexa had a feeling that Mr Griffin will do a bit more than the usual beating-up he does to Echo, or she would be claimed as property by the person who found her. Lexa had a feeling that Echo would not like her new master, if the latter did happen.

Okay, they needed to find Echo. Maybe that was why Clarke was so determined to find her. Maybe it was because she was concerned about Echo’s safety, or Lexa’s safety. Maybe even for her own safety. She didn’t know if Mr Griffin would go as far as abusing his daughter for losing his slave, however. But it was best to not underestimate Mr Griffin. Lexa knew better than that.

“She’s not here,” Clarke’s shaky voice brought Lexa back to the present. “Where can she be?”

“Okay, the first thing you need to do, is to relax, Clarke,” Lexa said calmly, soothingly. “Panicking won’t help anything, okay?”

“I know,” Clarke said, still darting her eyes from side to side. “But –”

“But nothing,” Lexa interrupted. “Take deep breaths. Breathe in,” Lexa took a deep inhale as an example for Clarke to follow. Clarke did. “And breathe out,” she said, exhaling slowly. Clarke followed her lead. “Good. We will find her, okay? I have faith. Let’s go look in the back garden.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Clarke said, considerably calmer now. “Thank you, Lexa.”

Lexa’s eyes met cerulean ones again. “For what?” she asked.

“For calming me down,” Clarke said. “I needed that. You’re amazing, Lexa.”

“Well,” Lexa gave a shy smile. “Maybe. Let’s go find Echo, okay?”

“Yeah,” Clarke smiled back, and together, they went out the back door and into the back garden.

XxX

It had been a while since they started to trail around the huge garden that was in the Griffin Estate. Accompanied by the fact that it was really dark as it was now late into the night, it was really difficult to find the young brunette. Neither of the two girls could see much except for the endless grass that nearly appeared black. Lexa wasn’t quite sure why they were walking around the garden doing nothing. If anything, they should call out. If Echo was here, it meant that she didn’t escape, and would surely come out of the shadows and reveal herself.

“Echo!” Lexa called, putting her hands around her mouth acting as a loudspeaker. “You there?”

Lexa’s voice echoed in the crisp night air vaguely. There was no answer.

“She’s not here,” Clarke’s shoulders sagged. “She’d come out if she was.”

“You don’t know that,” Lexa said, not willing to lose faith. “I just have a gut feeling that she’s here. Let’s keep looking.”

With that, Lexa led the way forward, and walked towards the far end of the garden. Lexa heard the rustling of grass behind her which indicated that Clarke was following her.

It did take Lexa a short while, but eventually, she spotted a dark figure that was in the distance. It could’ve been a log or something, but Lexa still decided to check it out.

“Look there,” Lexa pointed to the place that she was looking at. “There’s something over there.”

“If it was Echo, wouldn’t she have responded to our calls by now?” Clarke said dubiously.

“You know her, she’s stubborn. Maybe she’s just in her own bubble and wasn’t paying attention,” Lexa said and walked towards where she just pointed at.

As she got closer and closer, it became more and more clear what that thing she saw was. It was a person.

“Echo?” Lexa called when she got within a couple of metres from the figure.

“Huh?” Echo said groggily, pulling herself into a sitting position as Clarke and Lexa closed the distance between them.

“Echo!” Clarke cried, relief clear as day as she hurried to Echo’s side. “God, you scared me!”

“Scared?” Echo said, rubbing her eyes.

“We thought you left,” Lexa said.

“Left? I’m not that stupid,” Echo chuckled slightly. “I was just looking at the stars and I guess I fell asleep.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Clarke sighed. When Echo looked at her, confused, Clarke elaborated, “You weren’t responding to our calls.”

“The stars, huh?” Lexa smiled, bumping Echo’s shoulder slightly when she made her way to her feet.

“Yeah,” Echo’s mocha eyes met Lexa’s emerald ones. “It’s beautiful. It gives me hope, I guess. It’s so far away, and just…” Echo closed her eyes and sighed happily. “I don’t get to see it often. The grass was comfortable too. I guess I started to drift off after a while.”

“Yeah, it’s beautiful,” Lexa agreed. “It makes me feel like I can achieve anything.”

“Mm-hmm,” Echo hummed. “Except it’s just a dream. But hey, everyone can dream, right? It’s a good distraction from reality.”

“Guys, maybe we should head back,” Clarke said, feeling the shift in the mood of this conversation. “It’s getting cold and late.”

“Yeah, why don’t we do that,” Echo huffed, wrapping her arms around herself and walking back towards the house.

Lexa and Clarke shared a look before following the young brunette.

XxX

It wasn’t until late afternoon the next day that Mr Griffin finally got back to the Griffin Estate. The time before then, Clarke had graciously helped Lexa and Echo with their chores like she promised the day before, and plus, Echo got to sleep in a proper bed that night. It was pretty funny how Echo said that she didn’t want to leave that bed ever again, that she just wanted to stay there forever. Eventually, after an hour or so of her just lying there idly, Clarke made her get up and eat some breakfast, which Clarke had decided to make herself to treat the two brunettes.

If Lexa had to be honest, she preferred Echo’s food a lot more than Clarke’s food, but then Echo had been cooking every day for years whereas Clarke had probably never even touched a pan before. Although Clarke did make a decent attempt at a nice breakfast, she made some poached eggs as well as some kind of bacon dish accompanied by orange juice. Lexa didn’t eat that much at all because her stomach was still really full from the day before, so she gave most of her share to Echo, who thanked her and ate all the food that was on the table.

When Clarke asked what Echo did the day before, Echo said that she found some DVDs on the shelves and watched a few films. Then she got bored and decided to go stargazing, and that was where she felt a little sleepy and dozed off, before Lexa and Clarke found her.

Lexa still had no idea what Mr Griffin did for a living, she imagined that it must be a respectable job as the Griffin Estate seemed to be overflowing with money. Well, this place wasn’t the most extravagant of estates that Lexa had been to in the past, but if Mr Griffin was able to cash out twenty-five grand like it was nothing, they were obviously rich.

Mr Griffin closed the front door with a huff and he looked exhausted. After setting his jacket on the peg, his head turned and caught sight of Lexa who was peeking at the staircase. Lexa immediately stiffened, but couldn’t keep her eyes away from Mr Griffin’s. His eyes shared some resemblance to Clarke’s; Lexa could see that Clarke got his eyes from him, but his eyes were completely cold, unlike the warm ones that Lexa was used to seeing in her master’s. Icy blue eyes locked into emerald green ones for several seconds that felt like forever: they seemed to be penetrating, searching. Eventually, eye contact was broken and Mr Griffin bent down to undo his laces and take off his shoes, and Lexa took that opportunity to escape back upstairs and out of sight.

Clarke looked up when Lexa opened the door and entered her room.

“He’s back,” Lexa sighed, plopping herself on a chair on the desk.

“Okay,” Clarke muttered, taking off the black shirt that said “FRIENDS” on it and folding it up. Lexa felt her cheeks burn slightly at Clarke not caring to get undressed in front of the brunette, but she didn’t say anything. Clarke opened the drawer and tucked the shirt inside, away from sight. Lexa guessed that it was to prevent her dad from seeing them in those, either because it was evidence that they had gone out the night before, or because Clarke didn’t want Mr Griffin to know that they were best friends. That, Lexa could understand, because from what she gathered about Mr Griffin is that he did not approve of any other relationship between slave and master than slave and master.

With that in mind, Lexa decided to take off the shirt that said “BEST” that she still had on from last night. When she regained her sight as the top went over her head completely, she caught Clarke staring at her. Her expression was blank, and she seemed to be in a bit of a trance.

Lexa felt herself getting a bit self-conscious. “What?” she said, growing a little uncomfortable under Clarke’s scrutiny.

Clarke jolted and her cheeks pinked. “Nothing,” she stammered. “Um, maybe give me that shirt, uh, I can put it away.”

Lexa stared at Clarke, confused, for a short while, before she reached her hand out and handed the shirt over to Clarke’s outstretched hand. Their fingers grazed for the briefest of moments, but Lexa could swear that she felt a jolt of electricity travel through her system. She ignored it, however.

“Thanks,” Clarke breathed, folding up the still warm shirt and putting it away from the drawer. There was silence for a short while, before Clarke decided to speak up again. “I really like those shirts, you know.”

“You’ve told me that before,” Lexa replied. “And for the record, I really like them too.”

“Yeah,” Clarke smiled softly. “We have to put them on again sometime, when daddy’s not home.”

“Yeah, of course,” Lexa nodded. “It’s really comfortable anyway. Better than all the things I’ve worn before anyway,” she smiled, and it was nice for a while, just the two of them in their own little bubble, in the confines of the blonde’s room.

The serene atmosphere was broken quite soon, however, as the two girls heard a shout and a clatter.

“Don’t talk back to me, you idiot!” they heard a voice echo through the house, followed by a slam that was hard enough to make the walls shake and make Lexa jump.

“What’s going on?” Lexa said, slightly fearfully, for there was pure silence in the house that lasted several eerie, long seconds.

“Daddy’s getting mad again for no reason,” Clarke gritted. “Pathetic son of a bitch.”

“Hey, don’t insult your grandma,” Lexa said the first thing that popped into her head. “She did nothing wrong.”

Clarke looked at her with a funny look for a while, before she turned to leave the room. Lexa shook her head and got up to follow the blonde that was now already outside the room.

Lexa noticed how her footsteps echoed with each step she took down the stairs. It was some kind of clacky sound as her sandals made contact with the wooden steps, and it was soothing. She didn’t really know why she was realising these sort of things now, maybe it was because she had no idea what happened downstairs when she was in Clarke’s room. Either way, she found herself feeling nervous.

When they made it down to the ground floor, Clarke opened the door to the lounge and saw Echo sitting in a chair at the table, looking despondent.

“Hey,” Clarke whispered, walking over briskly and taking a seat next to her. Lexa quickly caught up and took a seat as well. “What happened?”

Echo looked up with a dull expression. “He happened,” she said glumly, before casting her head back down.

Lexa noticed how there was a red mark across the length of the brunette’s left cheek, and she reached her hand forward, touching it with the tip of her fingertips. Echo flinched away from her touch.

“Did he hit you again?” Clarke asked softly, and Echo nodded. “Why?”

“What do you mean, why?” Echo met the blonde’s eyes again, looking slightly offended. “It’s not like you don’t know him. I didn’t do anything.”

“What I meant was, why did he get mad?” Clarke asked again.

“I don’t know?” Echo scoffed. “He saw me and decided to get mad for no reason. I just said that I did everything he told me to, and he said to not talk back to him and then he slapped me.”

“It’s okay, Echo,” Lexa piped up. “It’s only a slap, I’ll get you some ice. Thank god it wasn’t anything more.”

“It’s not that,” Echo said. “It doesn’t even hurt anymore. It’s just that…” she sighed heavily. “All my life I’ve been treated like I’m worthless, I have no value. After all this time, you start to believe it yourself, you know? Yet, it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“Don’t believe anything he says,” Clarke reprimanded. “He’s just a jerk, a worthless imbecile. You are strong, Echo. You are brave. Don’t let anything he says pull you down, okay?”

“I know,” Echo sniffed. “I try but sometimes it gets a little hard, you know?”

“I get it,” Clarke said softly. “Look, I’ll go and talk with him. This can’t go on any longer.”

Lexa opened her mouth to speak up but then the door opened, causing all three girls’ heads to turn and look at where the noise came from.

“What are you doing?” Mr Griffin walked into the lounge, darting his eyes around, from one girl to another, and finally settling on his daughter.

“Speak of the devil,” Clarke muttered under her breath before she spoke up. “What do you think?”

“Don’t give me attitude, young lady,” Mr Griffin warned. “Why are you helping her?”

“And why are you hitting her?” Clarke raised an eyebrow challengingly. “She’s a human being! What gives you the right?”

“That girl’s a slave!” Mr Griffin spat. “She belongs to me, I bought her! I have every right!”

“No you don’t!” Clarke argued hotly. “Can you not see what you are doing to her? You’re making her feel like she’s worthless, like she has no purpose in life but to serve you! Is that what you want?”

“I’m just telling the truth,” Mr Griffin said icily. “Don’t give me that look, Clarke. You and I both know that this girl,” he pointed to Echo, “And _that_ girl,” he pointed to Lexa, “Are not going to accomplish anything in life. Once a slave, always a slave! They’re lucky that they even get to eat anything!”

“Eat?” Clarke cried incredulously. “Lexa only gets to eat because I let her. You should probably do the same for Echo. If it wasn’t for me, Echo would be starving!”

“Why do you even care?” Mr Griffin threw his hands up exasperatedly. “They are inferior! They should be on their knees thanking us for even letting them set foot in this house!”

“Because they are people, just like us,” Clarke said, quieter. She seemed to be changing approach: instead of all fire and hot arguing, she was going for a calmer approach now, appealing to character. “The you I knew would never do this,” Clarke said. “You would never do this to anyone. I know that you’re still in there.”

“Well,” Mr Griffin cleared his throat. “That part of me died long ago, when these what you call _people_ ,” he jabbed a finger at Echo and Lexa, “Killed my wife in cold blood. So I apologise if I don’t cater to your tastes, but that is just the way it is.”

“Fine,” Clarke’s demeanour shifted again. This time, she was defiant, proud, determined. “Then you are no more my father than any other stranger on the street.” With that, she turned on her heels and stalked out the lounge.

Lexa did not want to spend a second longer with a man that hated them, so she grabbed Echo by her shoulders and led her out, following Clarke. As she turned the corner, she took one final look backwards and saw Mr Griffin looking down, looking deep in thought but Lexa had no idea what he was thinking about.

“Thank you, Clarke,” Echo spoke up when they went into Clarke’s room.

Clarke turned around, looking slightly dejected. “For what?” she said, voice lacking any of the power that she had a minute ago.

“Just… for standing up for me. No one has ever done that before.”

“It’s the least I can do,” Clarke replied, turning back around and sitting on her bed and rubbing her eyes. “You don’t deserve any of this. None of you do.”

“Still,” Echo shrugged. “It’s really nice of you to do that. Well,” she sighed as she straightened her shirt. “I better get going. I have to go clean the bathroom.”

“Wait,” Lexa put a hand on Echo’s shoulder to prevent her from leaving. “We literally just did that this morning.”

“We cleaned a bathroom,” Echo replied, monotonous. “But not the other one down the hall. It’s okay, Lexa. I don’t mind.”

“You sure?” Lexa was hesitant to let Echo leave, especially after what happened with Mr Griffin earlier. “I can help you, if you want.”

“It’s okay,” Echo said, mustering up a brave smile. “You’ve helped enough today, thank you.” With that, she removed Lexa’s hand from her shoulder and left the room.

That left Lexa alone with Clarke again, and that was when the blonde let out a heavy sigh and flopped back on the bed.

“Do you think that I said the right thing?” Clarke asked into the stark air.

“I don’t know,” Lexa said honestly, for she didn’t want to say something that meant nothing, like an empty ‘Yes, of course’. “What you said seemed to have got to him, though.”

“How do you know?” Clarke’s voice was slightly muffled, because a part of her mouth was covered by her pillow.

“I don’t know for sure, but your dad seemed to be deep in thought after you left, almost like he’s contemplating something. I might be overthinking it though, it was probably nothing.”

“Well, if that’s what you saw, that could well be a possibility,” Clarke mumbled. “I sincerely hope that’s the case. It’s sad that those people not only took my mum away from me, but my dad too. Nothing had been the same ever since.”

Lexa felt a sense of déjà vu, and she decided that she would try and change the subject away from the still sensitive topic of her family. Nothing had clearly changed for a long time, and they all still had to heal. She wandered over to the blonde’s desk and saw a piece of paper that was on the desk. She remembered how she had saw Clarke’s handwriting for the first time when she first got here and was ensorcelled by the way the ink was pressed into the paper, representing words of meaning.

“Your handwriting is beautiful,” Lexa said softly, bringing Clarke’s mind away from the thought of her dad. “I wish that I could write like you.”

“It’s really not that good,” Clarke chuckled, sitting back up. “Some of it is just messy notes that I make when something pops up into my head.”

“What is it about?” Lexa enquired.

Clarke got up from her bed and walked over to where Lexa was standing. “I have an idea,” she said. “How about I teach you how to read? You said that you had wanted to be able to read for a long time, and since we have time, why don’t I teach you? You’ll be able to understand everything that’s on paper.”

“W-what… now?” Lexa said.

“Yeah, why not?” Clarke smiled, shrugging. “Now’s as good a time as any.”

“Oh, wow,” Lexa breathed. “Um, okay,” she chuckled nervously. “How do we begin?”

Clarke grabbed a chair that was on the side and sat down in front of the desk. She then patted the seat that was at the desk and Lexa sat down too.

“Well,” Clarke centred the piece of paper on the desk so that Lexa was looking directly at it. “How much of the alphabet do you know?”

“Uh, not much,” Lexa said, feeling a little stupid. “My mum taught me a bit when I was younger, but I don’t think that I can remember much.”

“Well, I have an idea then,” Clarke said, reaching up to fetch a piece of blank paper. “We might teach you how to write while we’re at it. Here’s a pen,” she reached for the pen pot and gave Lexa a black ballpoint pen. “Just write what you know. I won’t judge, I promise.”

“Okay…” Lexa said hesitantly, taking the pen from Clarke’s hand. Their fingers grazed, and Lexa felt that jolt of electricity shoot up her spine again. Shakily, she held the pen and pressed down on the paper, drawing what she thought was a letter, if she remembered correctly.

Clarke watched her carefully. “Good,” she said. “Now what is that?” she asked, gesturing to the letter that Lexa had just drawn.

“Uh… I think that it was a ‘b’, I’m not sure.”

“You’re right,” Clarke smiled. “Well, do you know anything else?”

Lexa thought for a moment, but since she wasn’t that sure and didn’t want to get anything wrong, she shook her head.

“That’s all right,” Clarke said encouragingly, putting the earlier piece of paper in front of Lexa again. “So, this letter,” she said, pointing to the first letter of the first word on the page. “Is a ‘t’. ‘T’ as in… um…”

“Table?” Lexa offered.

“Yeah, table,” Clarke grinned. “And this letter is an ‘h’. ‘H’ as in hot,” she winked, and Lexa felt her cheeks heat up. “And this is an ‘e’. ‘E’ as in… um, eat, I guess.”

“So, that is a ‘t’, ‘h’, and that is an ‘e’,” Lexa said, pointing to each respective letter in turn.

“Yep,” Clarke said. “So what does that word say?”

“Uh…” Lexa racked her brains. “Uh… ‘tea’?”

Clarke laughed. “Um, not quite. Maybe that was not the best word to start with. That word is ‘the’.”

“‘The’?” Lexa said incredulously. “How is that pronounced ‘the’?”

“It’s irregular,” Clarke chuckled. “Maybe we shouldn’t have started with that word. Although, now you can recognise one of the most common words, so you are already a hundred times better than you were yesterday.”

“Really?” Lexa asked, flattered.

“Really,” Clarke confirmed. “Well, should we keep going?”

XxX

Lexa had kind of lost track of time as they went through the whole page, reading everything letter by letter, eventually word by word. All she remembered was how Clarke was really patient throughout the whole thing – Lexa knew that she was a bit useless when it came to reading, so she was really glad that Clarke didn’t give up or get frustrated or anything. It was all Lexa needed at this moment, a sense of security, a feeling that she was not useless, a whore, worthless. Clarke had said that what she said to Echo also applied to Lexa too, and it just made Lexa’s heart warm.

It was now sometime into the evening, and Lexa thought that she was starting to get to grips with what Clarke was teaching her.

“Okay, so now, as a little challenge,” Clarke teased, putting the sheet of paper that they were working on away and getting a book this time from the shelf. She opened to the book and flipped to a random page. Her eyes flickered through the lines a little, before she settled on a sentence and put the book flat on the table, so that Lexa could see. She pointed to the start of a sentence. “Try and read this, Lexa.”

“Oh, I’m not sure I can do –” Lexa started.

“Nonsense,” Clarke cut her off. “Come on, try. I have faith in you.”

“Okay…” Lexa said hesitantly and looked at what Clarke was pointing at. She tried her best to recognise the letters, and what they would sound like together. “W-W-What…” she started, looking to Clarke for confirmation, who simply nodded encouragingly. With that, Lexa cast her eyes back down on the paper. “What I… want… m-most… right… at… this m-m… uh…” Lexa said really slowly, looking for Clarke for help. Clarke simply pointed to each letter in turn to guide Lexa, and the brunette concentrated really hard to get the word. “Moment… is… uh… water.”

“Yes,” there was a glint in Clarke’s beautiful sea-blue eyes. “Now say that sentence all over again.”

“What I want most, right at this moment, is water,” Lexa recited, much faster now that she had an idea of what the words were.

“Yay!” Clarke clapped enthusiastically. “See? I knew that you could do it!” she was literally overflowing with happiness, and before Lexa knew it, Clarke had planted a kiss on her left cheek.

It was very brief, but it felt like a lifetime. It felt so good.

“Uh…” Clarke blushed. “Well, yeah. Well done, Lexa. You’re getting so good at this!”

“T-Thanks,” Lexa mumbled shyly.

“Well, we’ll call it a day here, okay? You’ll be just as good as me in no time!” Clarke enthused, closing the book and setting it back on the shelf.

Lexa nodded absently, cheek still fuzzy from where Clarke’s lips had touched it just a moment ago. Lexa felt so lucky to get to know someone just as amazing as Clarke.

“Thank you,” she whispered to no one in particular. “Thank you for blessing me with kind fate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of shameless self-promotion, I have an idea running right now about a high school AU Clexa fic. I have written 2 chaps and uploaded it, it's called Notice Me, and if it is deemed worthy of continuation I will make that my main project after I finish this fic, which will be soon. Check it out, if you're interested!  
> Anyway, take care and stay safe <3


	9. Secret

“There had been a quick, um, startled wonder in her eyes. She had freed herself from his arms and had made him coffee,” Lexa read, as her eyes flickered from left to right on the page, holding the book with a hand flat on the table, the other hand tracing the words that she was reading out.

Clarke, who was listening intently to the brunette, sat next to her. They had been doing these sort of night sessions for about a month now, and if Lexa could say so herself, she was getting quite good at reading. She remembered how a month or so ago, she didn’t recognise most letters. Now, she could recognise those letters almost instantly, as well as read ahead to the following letters and saying correctly what word that was.

It wasn’t an easy process, however. There were lots of different phonics patterns that she had to learn, such as when there were two vowels combined what sound they would make together, as well as some of the irregulars as well. It was a bit difficult at first as Lexa had to recognise each of the letters in turn, then try to visualise and hear the word in her head, then say it out loud. Lexa was almost about to give up a few days in, saying that it was too hard, but Clarke was persistent that she continued, saying that she had made so much progress already and it would be such a shame if she gave up.

Now, Lexa has gained confidence and was reading out loud considerably faster than before, because over time she had learnt that getting things wrong was nothing to be ashamed of. Every mistake made was just an opportunity to learn, Clarke said, and it was true: as long as Lexa paid attention to her mistakes she tended to not make them again, and that sped up her progress even more.

Clarke had also taught Lexa how to write, a bit. She had said that it was better to get Lexa really fluent in reading first, though. However, the few lessons that Lexa had of writing was even harder than the lessons that she had in reading. It was because on top of being able to recognise the letters, she now had to memorise them and recall them. On top of that, she had to learn how to spell most words, and this is where she agreed with Clarke: all that reading was definitely helping her learn the letters better and give her a better idea of how to spell.

Lexa paused as she got to the end of the paragraph, taking a little bit of a break. Reading was still hard for her even though she found it considerably easier than before, meaning that it took a lot of brainpower and focus. Besides, Lexa had read over two pages consecutively, which was some kind of record, so she was pretty proud of herself.

“Well done!” Clarke enthused, as Lexa closed her eyes to rest it after so much strain due to focus. “I can totally see you getting as good as me in a few weeks.”

“I don’t think so,” Lexa said, slightly flattered at the consistent confidence that Clarke always had in the brunette. “You’ve been reading all your life, pretty much. I’ve just started a couple of weeks ago.”

“And yet you are so good already!” Clarke gushed, leaning forward to embrace the brunette in a hug. “You are such a fast learner, I love it. You’re so smart.”

Lexa felt her cheeks flush at the undying flourish of compliments coming out of the blonde’s mouth. “Thanks, but you speak too highly of me.”

“Never,” Clarke shook her head, still smiling. “Well, should we call it here for now? You’ve done amazingly today, I mean it. Let’s go get some breakfast, shall we?”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Lexa said, as Clarke helped her to her feet. Together, they walked out the door and down the stairs.

“Morning, Echo,” Clarke greeted as they saw the brunette organising pots and pans in the cupboards. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not bad,” Echo shrugged. “More or less the same old, same old.”

“You really should move into my room,” Lexa suggested. “Clarke’s dad won’t realise, and if he does, we’ll protect you.”

“It’s fine, I’ll probably get back pain from the softness of the mattress,” Echo joked. “Thanks for your offer, but I don’t really want to take the risk. Plus, I’m pretty used to sleeping on the floor anyway.”

“If you say so,” Lexa said. “So, what’s for breakfast today?”

“Hmm, I haven’t started cooking yet,” Echo said slyly. “Damn! Guess that’s cereal for you?”

“Rebel,” Lexa quipped, laughing. She opened the fridge and got out some milk, as well as fetching a box of cereal from the shelf to her right. “Feeling lazy on a Sunday morning?”

“It’s Sunday,” Echo shrugged, as if that was an explanation. “I deserve a break.”

“Damn right you do,” this time it was Clarke who spoke. “You want our help with your chores today?”

“It’s fine, I’ve pretty much done them all yesterday,” Echo said. “I just need to do the laundry, and that’s a job I’m fine with doing alone. Thanks though.”

“You want me to make you a portion?” Lexa said, holding up the cereal box.

“No, I’ve had breakfast,” Echo smirked. “I whipped up a sausage and baked beans meal for myself already. Turns out that no one finds out anyway, huh?”

“Sneaky,” Lexa slapped Echo’s shoulder playfully. “Well, I’ll head to the other room, see you around?”

“Bye,” Echo waved, turning her back to the two girls who now made their way to the dining room.

“Good for her,” Clarke said, as they sat down at the dining table.

“What do you mean?” Lexa asked, putting a mouthful of cereal and milk into her mouth.

“Echo looks a lot happier than before, and that’s because of you, Lexa. You see what you are doing to everyone here?” Clarke said.

“I’m not doing anything,” Lexa defended. “Maybe Echo just found the meaning of life or something so that physical abuse doesn’t hurt her anymore.”

“That’s rubbish,” Clarke chuckled, swatting the air. “You know it’s because of you, you help her with all that workload that’s piled upon her. You lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.”

“Maybe,” Lexa said contemplatively. “I’m just so awesome, aren’t I?” she said in mock narcissism.

“Don’t get so cocky now,” Clarke warned light-heartedly. “But yeah, you are pretty awesome,” she said.

Lexa smiled warmly and continued eating her cereal.

XxX

“You know how some people really like stargazing because they say that it’s really beautiful?” Lexa said, turning her head to face Clarke.

“Uh-huh,” Clarke said, staring up at the blue sky.

“Well, if anything, I think that staring at the clouds is just as good,” Lexa said, shifting her position so that she was now lying comfortably on the slightly damp grass, pleasant petrichor creating a nice fog around them.

“Really?” Clarke said, quietly, still staring straight up.

“Yep,” Lexa said. “It allows so much scope for imagination. Like you see that cloud over there?” Lexa pointed to a cloud that was on their left. “It looks like a horse.”

“What?” Clarke said, amused. “In what way?”

Lexa shifted so that she was now lying cheek-to-cheek with the blonde. “You see over there,” she whispered, pointing to the cloud so that Clarke to follow the brunette’s line of sight. “That’s the head. And there,” she shifted her finger slightly. “Those are the legs. And that’s the body, and that’s the tail,” she finished, lowering her finger.

Clarke stared at the cloud for a few moments before she turned her head to meet the brunette’s. “Yeah,” she said, voice slightly low and raspy. “I guess you’re right. I could never see something like that.”

“I bet you can,” Lexa smiled, encouragingly. “Just look at the clouds and just say that the first thing that pops into your head that vaguely resembles the cloud that you’re looking at.”

“I’m pretty sure you still need an amazing imagination,” Clarke said.

“You don’t,” Lexa shook her head. “Come on, just try.”

“Okay,” Clarke chuckled a bit, raking her eyes across the expanse of the blue sky. “Um, I guess that one looks like um… a bird.”

“Which one?” Lexa said, pressing her cheek to the blonde’s again. She felt Clarke’s cheeks heat up a little, or it may have been her own, she didn’t know.

Clarke pointed to one on the far right, and Lexa followed her line of vision. “You see, those two white bits are its wings. The head is over… there.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true,” Lexa said. “I didn’t see that. See? You’re just as good as I am.”

“I really like this, Lex,” Clarke sighed contently, relaxing on the soft sheet of green beneath them. “I could get used to this.”

“I know, Clarke,” Lexa said gently. “I think we all can.”

XxX

The day went like a blur for Lexa. She remembered in the past how she would feel that every day seemed to last an eternity, how it was painful to wake up every day, how she just wanted to submerge herself into her dreams as it was her only escape from reality.

Except, now in the Griffin Estate, her dreams seemed to come true. She had never known that someone as kind and pure as Clarke could exist, and the luck that she just happened to be her master was just unbelievable. A part of Lexa told her that it was just God rewarding her for her rather tragic childhood, that she deserved the happiness that she felt nearly constantly now. But aren’t all rewards temporary? Lexa hoped that she could get to keep Clarke as her master for an eternity, but she knew that it was unrealistic to hope that. Of course, it was possible, like how her mum’s master had kept her all these years, but it was incredibly unlikely.

But then, Clarke was not like all the other masters. Clarke would keep her, right? But then if Clarke’s dad decided one day that he no longer wanted Lexa in the house, then would she be sold on? She didn’t know if Clarke’s dad had the right, as she technically was Clarke’s property, but then Mr Griffin did buy her first. So was she in Mr Griffin’s name? She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to think about it anymore. The thing that mattered the most was the present, so she should probably focus on that first.

She kind of lost track of time over the course of today, but all she knew is that as Echo didn’t need her help with the chores, it had been more or less a completely free day. Sometimes Lexa would spend her free time with herself, maybe borrowing of Clarke’s books to practice her reading, or she would spend her time with Clarke. The blonde seemed to enjoy Lexa’s company as much as Lexa enjoyed hers, so that was really pleasing to know. Which is what she’s doing now, actually. She was in Clarke’s room, flipping through some pages of Clarke’s handwriting at the desk. Now that she was able to read, she could understand what Clarke was writing. It was slightly harder to read than a book, for example, as the words were not printed, but she was still able to discern what it was saying. Quite a lot of them were school notes, which Lexa found really interesting, because she had no idea what anything was until she read it. Also, as she rummaged deeper into the pile, she could find some non-school related stuff. As Lexa read through them too, her eyes widened as they were now bordering on personal stuff that Clarke had.

Clarke caught sight of what Lexa was reading and instantly made her way over.

“Um,” Clarke said, gently prying the paper out of Lexa’s hands. “Maybe that’s enough reading for you today. You have done so much today, we can always continue tomorrow. Let’s do something else, okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” Lexa said, closing the drawer after Clarke had put the sheet in. “What should we do?”

Clarke put her hand on her chin for a while, thinking, looking around the room, until she seemed to have caught sight of something which gave her an idea. “Let’s put some music on,” she said, walking over to a bookshelf on the far side of the room. She got a box out from the bottom shelf and got out some kind of device, which Lexa guessed was a speaker. Clarke rummaged through the wires a bit until she found the one that she needed, plugging the device into a socket. Then she fetched a device from another shelf on the bookshelf and connected it to the speaker.

Within no time, some music started to play. Lexa had heard some form of music before, but very rarely. Maybe it was in her old master’s houses where they would sometimes invite some people over and they would play some music to keep them entertained, or it would come from her mum, who would sing her to sleep when she was little. This is why as she hadn’t really listened to any music before, it evoked some kind of warm feeling to rise in her heart, which seemed to swell.

The light went off and Clarke’s next words were so quiet that Lexa nearly didn’t catch it: “Dance with me.”

Clarke was standing in the middle of the room, arms outstretched, inviting. Lexa stared at her for a while, gaping, before her mouth started to regain its function and she was able to talk again. “I-I don’t know how,” she stuttered.

“Doesn’t matter,” Clarke said softly, softly swaying her body from side to side. “Come.”

There was some kind of atmosphere in the room that was a little difficult to describe. It was calm and serene, and there was also this kind of tension that was just there, almost tangible but not quite. There was this vague feeling that there was this string that connected the two girls together, and now Clarke was just winding the string together, creating this invisible force that pulled Lexa towards her. The lighting was low; Lexa could see the moon outside beaming down on them, huge and bright. Lexa looked back to Clarke, and the side of her face that was facing the window was visible clearly, the other side in the shadow.

With no words being said, Lexa settled herself in Clarke’s arms and the blonde swayed the two of them together to the beat of the music.

“See?” Clarke husked, voice barely more than a whisper. “Easy as that,” she mumbled as they continued to sway from side to side.

The music was a faint buzz in Lexa’s ears: she wasn’t really paying much attention to it. All she could see and smell and sense was how close Clarke was to her. They were about the same height, meaning that if Lexa looked straight ahead she could see Clarke’s eyes, royal blue under the dim moonlight.

“Feeling more confident?” Clarke said softly as time went on, just them swaying side to side. Lexa didn’t really know what Clarke meant, so she didn’t say anything, just continued looking at Clarke expectantly.

“When I move my foot forward, you move your foot back, okay?” Clarke breathed. “And when you move your foot forward, I will move my foot back. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Lexa said, and Clarke started by moving one step forward. Seeing that Clarke moved her foot forward, Lexa took a step back.

“Good,” Clarke said, unable to suppress her smile. “Now we count steps.” With that, Clarke guided Lexa so that the brunette took a step forward, and Clarke took a step back.

“Wow,” Lexa whispered as the two of them built started to build up a rhythm, just as she vaguely registered the music starting to intensify.

“See? You’re a natural,” Clarke complimented as they started to move back and forth across the empty space that acted as a dance floor.

This went on for a short while before Lexa suddenly felt a surge of confidence and courage, and as both their hands were still clasped in each other’s as they moved to the beat of the music, she let go of one of Clarke’s hands and twirled her around in a full circle. Clarke was caught off guard by this, but she spun around with grace nonetheless, and their hands joined back together when she was facing Lexa again.

“Woah,” Clarke giggled. “That was smooth, Lex.”

“Who knew, huh?” Lexa said, smiling widely, which Clarke reciprocated.

“My turn,” Clarke then said, barely giving Lexa enough time to react before the brunette was launched into her own spin. Lexa nearly stumbled with the exertion, but then Clarke’s strong hands were around her waist, keeping her upright. Her back was now facing the blonde, and she could feel Clarke’s breath on her shoulder.

“I guess this works too,” Clarke mumbled into Lexa’s ear, and then started to sway the two of them rather vigorously from side to side. Lexa felt some heat start to pool in her face as well as her stomach, but she put those thoughts aside and happily obliged, letting Clarke lead her.

It wasn’t until the music changed to a must faster-paced one that Clarke decided to have a bit of fun, lifting Lexa up into the air. Lexa let a squeal come out of her mouth as she felt her feet leave the floor; she was having so much fun, she wasn’t going to hold back anymore.

Their feet continued to move in sync, and as the song was drawing to a close Lexa took a misstep so that both her and Clarke stepped forward at the same time, and Lexa stepped right on Clarke’s foot, which elicited a yelp from the blonde.

“Sorry,” Lexa whispered. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Clarke smiled softly. “You were meant to step back there.”

“I know that now,” Lexa smiled back. “Does it hurt?”

“Not anymore,” Clarke’s smile was starting to fade and she bit her lip. The two of them have more or less stopped dancing by now, and were just swaying from side to side. Lexa felt the atmosphere change, from playful and teasing to something different, but to what she wasn’t sure.

She saw Clarke’s eyes dart all around her face, before setting itself on somewhere below her eyes. Clarke’s eyes stayed there for a while, before flickering up again to meet Lexa’s deep emerald ones. Clarke’s eyes were so beautiful. Under the moonlight, one was a shade of cerulean blue, the other in the shadow was a really deep blue, nearly indigo.

“Lex,” Clarke said, voice barely over a whisper. Lexa saw Clarke gulp before the blonde spoke up again. “I have a secret to tell you.”

“A secret?” Lexa mumbled, in a bit of a daze.

“Yes,” Clarke whispered. “Come closer, please, so that I can tell you.”

Lexa did as Clarke instructed, inching a bit closer so that their faces were closer together. But Clarke didn’t seem to be satisfied yet.

Lexa saw Clarke’s lips move before she heard her next words. “A little closer, Lex.”

Lexa did so, tilting her face slightly to one side so that Clarke could whisper into her ear, but before she knew it, one of Clarke’s warm hands was on her face and the blonde closed the distance between them.

Lexa’s senses were in overload. She didn’t register the faint music that was softly buzzing in the background. All she could feel was Clarke’s lips pressed onto hers, light as a feather, moving slowly.

It was so slow, and so enjoyable, that Lexa closed her eyes to relish the sensation. She felt a bit of heat pool between her legs as she started to move her own lips too. Truth was, she had never done this before, and she was frightened out of her mind, but just the feel of Clarke all around her, in such an intimate way, was enough to render her fears null.

Clarke pulled back almost too fast, and Lexa opened her eyes again, slowly, still in a bit of a trance. Clarke gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, almost as if she couldn’t believe what she had done, blushing profusely and it was so cute that Lexa suddenly felt a strong desire to close the distance between them again.

“I’m so sorry,” Clarke mumbled, stammering. “I-I, um, I just suddenly felt – um, ah –”

Lexa just stared at Clarke who was still struggling to find words to say, and as she didn’t want the blonde to die of embarrassment, so she just leaned forward and closed the distance between them again.

Clarke let out a squeak in surprise, but Lexa just put one of her hands behind her head, stroking tendrils of golden hair gently, nipping at her lips softly as Lexa closed her eyes again.

It took a bit of time, but eventually, Clarke got over her shock and started to kiss back, and a moan erupted from one of them – from who, Lexa had no idea, but she didn’t care.

It was pure oblivion, Lexa had never felt anything like this before.

When Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa’s back and waist, pulling her closer so that their bodies were now flush, the heat between Lexa’s legs intensified. Lexa was pretty sure that if she died here and now, she would die the happiest girl on the planet. It was like her life was complete.

After a few moments that seemed to last no time and forever at the same time, Clarke pulled away slightly, resting their foreheads against each other.

“Lex,” Clarke’s voice was hoarse and filled with awe and wonder.

“Clarke,” Lexa parroted, her voice most likely just like Clarke’s.

“Did you feel – _do_ you feel that… um…” Clarke faltered.

“That was amazing,” Lexa said contently. “I had no idea, Clarke.”

“I, um, had wanted to do that for a while now,” Clarke admitted, cheeks flushing red. “I just never had the courage to, I guess.”

“And thank god you did,” Lexa smiled, staring into Clarke’s cerulean orbs intensely.

“The thing is, that, um…” Clarke’s eyes darted away as she composed herself. “I-I really like you, Lexa. As in, um, more than a friend. I get that you may not be… um… gay, but you are so beautiful, so kind, so amazing, it’s impossible for me to not like you.”

Clarke being a nervous wreck just made Lexa’s heart swell a hundred times over. “I really like you too, Clarke,” Lexa admitted, feeling herself blush. “I don’t know if I’m… gay or not, but I guess that I’ve been put off men ever since… you know,” Lexa half-joked.

Clarke laughed, nervousness dissipating slightly. “I’ve never kissed anyone before,” she confessed. “I guess I never found the right one before. I keep on feeling like you’re the one, you know?”

“And you are the best kisser, like ever, by a long way,” Lexa smiled. “You’re a natural,” she said, quoting Clarke’s words from earlier.

Clarke caught on. “I really like kissing you, Lexa. You’re amazing.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Lexa quipped. Then she remembered something. “Hey, would your dad allow this? Us in a relationship?”

Clarke’s smile fell slightly. “Please don’t ruin the vibe by mentioning my dad, please?”

“Okay,” Lexa smiled apologetically. “I won’t,” she said, leaning forward for another kiss because she found Clarke so irresistible.

XxX

“You know the thing you asked me earlier, about my dad?” Clarke said as the two of them watched the stars out the window, sitting side by side on the blonde’s bed.

“Yes?” Lexa said, recalling what she had asked a while ago.

“I think that um… it’s best that if he doesn’t know,” Clarke sighed, looking down, probably fearing for Lexa’s reaction.

“I agree,” Lexa said, and Clarke looked up in surprise. “He probably won’t approve of us, seeing as I’m a slave and you’re not.”

“I don’t see you as a slave, Lex, you know,” Clarke said. “I never have, never will.”

“I know,” Lexa smiled. “Although I am curious as to one thing,” she said.

“What is it?” Clarke asked.

“Why did your dad buy me, if he doesn’t approve of this? You know, as I am technically a sex slave,” Lexa said.

“I don’t think that you’re a sex slave,” Clarke said genuinely. “It’s just that non-consensual sex to slaves are legal, hence that… _derogatory_ term to describe people of your class.” Clarke sighed heavily. “My dad doesn’t buy slaves for me to have sex with,” she mumbled, face grimacing as if she was tasting something sour. “Heck, I didn’t even know it was legal until you told me. He buys slaves to keep me company, because I cut off contact with all of my friends ever since my mum got murdered and he thinks that I get lonely, when in fact, I don’t. It’s his way of fixing the unfixable without putting any effort himself, I guess. I didn’t know how lonely I was until I met you, Lexa.”

Lexa smiled shyly. “So, um, what did he expect you to do with the slaves that he buys?”

“I don’t know,” Clarke shrugged. “Probably do chores for me? Act as someone for me to take my anger upon? I genuinely have no idea. Not someone to like as more as a friend, though, I’m pretty sure. These sorts of romances are forbidden, and he will most definitely not approve. Which is why I think that we shouldn’t let him know, under any circumstance.”

“I cannot agree more,” Lexa nodded. “It’s okay, though. I’m happy with us being a secret.”

“A secret?” Clarke grinned. “I like it.”


	10. Fire

Lexa woke up with a jolt. She just had some very vivid dream, and whether it pleased her or not she didn’t know, but it was enough to shock her awake. It was a little disappointing because as soon as her deep turquoise eyes were open, she couldn’t remember a thing about what she dreamt about. She didn’t really get dreams that much, probably because you only get dreams when you are in REM sleep or whatever that was, and since Lexa’s body was always so tired her whole life, her body probably couldn’t afford any light sleep so she always passed out like a log whenever she was given the chance. That had some repercussions, however, as she may not be able to wake up as alert as she would like when her previous masters would come in. That would be when she would be slapped awake, and her day would begin.

But oh, how times have changed. Lexa tried to smooth her rather messy bed hair with her bare hands and sat up straight on the bed. It had also been mentioned how Lexa’s posture had improved significantly since she set foot in the Griffin estate. This was a good thing, as that meant that the brunette’s back was not as problematic as before, her old wounds have nearly completely healed, and she was gaining confidence.

And why would Lexa not have confidence? She felt like she was on top of the world: she managed to snag the most amazing girl that the world has to provide! Just the thought of the blonde made Lexa’s heart swell with adoration and pride. She was so lucky.

Clarke liked her, as more than a friend. Truth be told, Lexa had not known that the jolts of electricity that she felt shoot down her spine, the rabble of butterflies that pooled in her stomach every time she got to close proximity to the blonde, was attraction. It wasn’t until Clarke kissed her in that night under the moonlight in the confines of her room that Lexa had realised that she had a crush on Clarke.

Up to this day, Lexa still could not quite believe it. What’s so good about her that Clarke sees? Nevertheless, that night, fifteen days ago, was the best night of her life. Easy.

Excitedly, Lexa got up to her feet and put on the shirt that said “BEST” on it. She knew that her relationship or whatever they were was meant to be kept a secret to Mr Griffin, but at this point, Lexa didn’t really care. She was going to put a jacket over that shirt anyway, as it was early morning and it was quite cold, so no one was going to see that shirt. It had become her favourite shirt out of all the ones she had, simply because of all the sentimental value that came along with it and it reminded Lexa of all the fun they had the night that they bought it. Although now Lexa knew better than to eat too much food, the feeling when you’re about to empty the contents of your stomach is not pleasant at all.

After putting on her clothes, Lexa left her room and closed the door with a soft click. It wasn’t completely bright yet, but Lexa didn’t care. She ran up two flights of stairs, following the route that she was so familiar with now. Within no time, she found herself in front of the white door to the room that she spent more time in than anywhere else.

The door was unlocked, so she opened it and let herself in. After closing the door lightly, she cast her eyes on the figure that was sprawled on the bed. Clarke was still sleeping, breathing in through her nose and breathing out her mouth with a small puff that was so adorable that Lexa just wanted to plant her lips onto the blonde’s.

“Wake up,” Lexa whispered, walking over to Clarke’s side and shaking her shoulders. “Wakey-wakey!”

After a few seconds, murky blue eyes opened and Clarke looked disoriented. But soon, they cleared and Clarke rubbed her eyes.

“What time is it?” Clarke mumbled.

“Early,” Lexa said. “I don’t think anyone else is up yet.”

“Oh,” Clarke sighed, evidently still very tired. “Why did you wake me up then?”

“I just wanted to see you,” Lexa admitted. “I couldn’t wait after I woke up.”

“Aww, that’s so cute,” Clarke closed her eyes again. “Come here,” she said, scooting over a bit and patting the empty space on the bed next to her.

They had done this a few times before, but Lexa was still hesitant in getting into the same bed as Clarke.

Clarke could sense Lexa’s hesitation, even though she wasn’t even looking at the brunette. “Come on,” she said, still patting the empty space. “I won’t bite.”

“Okay,” Lexa said quietly, slipping into bed next to Clarke.

“Hmm,” Clarke smiled sleepily and scooted back across, draping an arm over Lexa’s midsection. Then the blonde yawned, probably because she just woke up and she wanted more sleep. That was understandable: it was still pretty early, after all.

“Is being pretty so tiring?” Lexa cooed, saying the first thing that popped into her head. After realising what she had just said, Lexa mentally patted herself on the back – that was smooth!

Clarke opened one eye and looked amused. “Hmm, maybe. If that was the case though, then you should be exhausted.”

Damn it. Lexa couldn’t stop the blush that spread through her cheeks and up her ears.

Clarke just laughed heartily and pulled Lexa closer, burying her head into the brunette’s shoulder, falling back asleep.

***

By the time that turbid viridescent eyes opened for a second time today, the sun was already pouring in through the curtains. When Lexa managed to gather her surroundings, she realised that she was not in her room, where she normally wakes up. Temporary fear had her in a vice grip before the events of what had transpired a few hours ago came back to her, making her relax instantly and closing her eyes again in relief.

When she had taken a few deep breaths in the aftermath of her momentary shock, she opened her eyes and the first thing that she could register was beautiful blue orbs staring right down at her.

“Are you staring at me?” Lexa mumbled, voice still a bit low and raspy from sleep.

“No,” Clarke instantly said, maybe a little too quickly. When Lexa stared her down, Clarke relented, “Okay, maybe.”

Lexa smiled. “What time is it? How long have you been staring at me for like a creep?”

Clarke blushed. “I wasn’t staring at you like a creep!” she said defensively. “But, um, for quite a while. You make these small noises in your sleep and you pout, it’s so cute!”

“That’s really creepy, Clarke,” Lexa frowned.

“No, well, it’s not my fault that you’re so pretty,” Clarke cooed, leaning down to place a tender kiss on Lexa’s lips.

Even though this had happened more than once ever since Clarke mustered up the courage to kiss her, Lexa still could not quite get used to it. Every time their lips so much as grazed, it felt as if fireworks were exploding in her head. Did that sound right? Lexa was still a bit unsure about her abstract ideas and metaphors. Anyway, the point is that it brings great enjoyment and pleasure every single time.

Since Lexa couldn’t find it within herself to be mad at the blonde before her anymore (not that she was mad in the first place, but hey, she wanted to put up a façade), Lexa let a smile grace her lips again. “So, you still haven’t answered my question. What time is it?”

“About nine,” Clarke answered, still staring at her with this funny look on her face. “Maybe we should get up soon.”

Lexa nodded, but Clarke’s staring did not waver, making the brunette slightly uncomfortable. “What?” she said, self-conscious. “Do I have a spider on my face?”

“No,” Clarke said. “You must be exhausted.”

Lexa was a bit confused. “Huh? Why? I just woke up.”

“Because you’re so pretty that you’ve been running around my head all day,” Clarke explained, shrugging.

There was stark silence that reverberated around the room for a solid fifteen seconds.

“That is so bad,” Lexa said, and then couldn’t help but start laughing.

“Hey!” Clarke defended her lame joke. “You laughed!”

“Yeah, because it is _dreadful_!” Lexa snorted, unable to suppress her giggles.

“Fine,” Clarke pouted petulantly. “Let’s get up, and go get breakfast.”

“Running around my head all day,” Lexa mocked, still laughing hysterically as she got out of bed.

Clarke gave her a good-natured slap on the arm. “Shut up! I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place!”

Lexa paid her no mind as she slipped on her sandals, because she was too busy laughing. “Running… haha…” she was still giggling when she left the room.

Clarke sighed and left the room after the brunette.

***

“Huh?” Clarke said as she got to the kitchen. “Why’s there no one here? Where did Echo go?”

Lexa appeared by Clarke’s shoulder, after having not initially thought too much of it when she turned up at the kitchen before the blonde. “She doesn’t have to be here in the mornings, you know,” Lexa said. “She’s probably upstairs doing the laundry or something, for all you know.”

Clarke still looked a little worried. “Okay,” she said slowly. “Well, we can prepare our own breakfast today then.”

“You worry too much,” Lexa said, chuckling, as she dug out a pan from the cupboard.

“Yeah, probably,” Clarke said. “What are you doing?”

Lexa oiled the pan and turned around. “What do you mean? What does it look like I’m doing?”

“It’s just that I haven’t seen you cook before,” Clarke said. “It’s always been Echo.”

“Oh, well now I must show all my skills off,” Lexa said playfully, standing up straighter and starting to tilt the pan from side to side so that the oil covers the entire base. “I bet you, your jaw will be on the floor by the time I finish.”

“It probably will, to be honest,” Clarke chuckled. “I’m absolutely useless in the kitchen.”

“Well, that can easily be fixed,” Lexa shrugged, cracking open an egg with one hand and spreading it across the base of the pan flawlessly. “I’ll teach you sometime. But not before I show you how good I am, how skilled my fingers are.”

Clarke stifled a laugh.

Lexa whipped around. “What’s so funny?” she asked. “Why are you laughing?”

“No, it’s just,” Clarke wiped at her eyes. “You said how skilled your _fingers_ are.”

Lexa stared blankly at the blonde before her before she realised the double meaning. “Oh god,” she said in horror, face flushing. “That’s really embarrassing.”

“It is,” Clarke agreed, still laughing. “Well, so what are you making?”

“An omelette,” Lexa said and Clarke widened her eyes. “Ooh, Echo never cook that for you?” Lexa taunted, manner jaunty and regaining some of her confidence.

“Nope, she normally makes more or less the same thing every day,” Clarke said. “Guess she wants to do all the work with minimum effort. I don’t blame her, she has a lot on her shoulders.”

“Fair enough,” Lexa reached over for some pepper and some cheese. “It’s about time we had something different,” she said, sprinkling some pepper over the eggs. She was just about to flip the egg like how a pancake is flipped by chefs when a loud shout made her jump and lose control. The egg fell unceremoniously, landing on the floor with a wet splat.

“What were you saying?” Clarke said, raising an eyebrow. She didn’t seem to have realised that someone had shouted rather loudly upstairs. “About really _skilled fingers_?” she teased.

“Shh,” Lexa put a finger on her lips to demonstrate her point. “Listen,” she whispered.

Clarke stopped her motions and the two girls listened intently for about ten seconds. When there was pure silence, Clarke opened her mouth to talk again.

But before a single word could come out of her mouth, a loud shout came again.

“What the fuck are you doing?” the voice echoed through the house, making the walls vibrate. “Get up! Get up, you worthless bitch!”

“That… is trouble,” Lexa whispered, ignoring the egg on the floor and moving towards the exit. Clarke soon followed.

As they ascended the stairs, the shouting continued.

“I didn’t buy you so that you can have a fucking lie-in! Get up!”

Lexa was almost at the top of the stairs when a new voice made her freeze.

“I’m just really tired!” a voice that she was almost certain was Echo’s came. “Please, just a little longer!”

“No, fuck that!” a voice that was most definitely Mr Griffin’s shouted.

“I do all the chores for you, I’m not a machine!” Echo shouted back. “I need to rest too! I can’t work if I’m too tired!”

“You talk back to me, bitch?” Mr Griffin growled, and that was quickly followed by a loud slap and a cry that chilled Lexa’s bones.

“Why did you stop?” Clarke hissed. When Lexa looked back, the blonde’s eyes were glazed. “Keep going!”

Right. Lexa’s legs started to move again, but now they felt numb.

“I don’t give a shit!” Mr Griffin snarled. “You get up when I want you to get up, you do the things I tell you to do! End of story!”

“You have no right to do what you’re doing,” Echo growled. “I’m a human being too! A human being! I’m so sick of you treating me like I’m nothing! Because I’m not nothing!”

The next few seconds were filled with silence, but it was deafening. Lexa’s footsteps increased in speed, hurrying to get to where Echo slept.

“Clarke brainwash that shit into you?” Mr Griffin said, voice dangerously low, and now Lexa was close enough to hear what he said. “Because you know what? You’re never going to be anything other than nothing. And you want to know something else? I’m sick of you too. I don’t need any more attitude in my life.”

Lexa burst into the room, and Clarke stumbled in quickly after.

“Jake!” Clarke shouted, and at first, Lexa was a bit confused as to who Jake was, but then she quickly realised that it was the name of Clarke’s dad. Guess she held on to what she said earlier, huh? She no longer called her ‘daddy’.

Mr Griffin whipped around. “What, Clarke?” he sneered. “Trying to save your pathetic slave friends?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” Clarke said, defiant. “You’re making this a bigger deal than it is, you’re overreacting.”

“I’m really not,” Mr Griffin said, an icy smile appearing on his normally impassive features. “Echo’s time is done here.”

“What do you mean?” Lexa asked, surging forward, fearing for her friend. “What do you mean, her time is done?”

Mr Griffin looked disgusted with the notion that he had to deal with the brunette. “Away from me, filth,” he snarled, pushing Lexa harshly away.

That made Clarke incredibly angry. “Don’t touch her!” she screamed, rushing forward to grab Lexa, who was about to stumble.

“Just go mind your business,” Mr Griffin rolled his eyes. “This has nothing to do with you.” With that, he turned back around and that was when Lexa could see Echo for the first time, for Mr Griffin was no longer blocking her from view. Echo had a nasty green mark across her left cheek, and looked so painful that Lexa winced just to look at it.

“Get off me!” Echo screamed as Mr Griffin dug his arms around her midsection and lifted her straight out of bed. “Get off me, you fucking worthless bastard!”

“Who you calling worthless?” Mr Griffin roared, gripping Echo’s throat with one of his thick hands. “Huh?” he spat into her face. “What did you just say, slave?”

“You are a fucking spineless psychopath that cannot deal with his wife’s death and resorts to bullying children,” Echo gritted, in pain but to her credit, she was still defiant under Mr Griffin’s terrifying glare. “You are a coward, you hear me? A coward!”

Mr Griffin took a deep breath for a second, and Lexa thought that he was going to let go of Echo, but then he did something different.

He reached for his back pocket, pulling out a device and pressed it straight onto Echo’s stomach.

Lexa could smell something burning, and Echo’s screams were so loud that it brought back memories that Lexa had nearly succeeded in forgetting.

As if that wasn’t enough, Mr Griffin let go and pressed the device onto the young brunette. There was screaming, and soon she fell limp in Mr Griffin’s arms.

It wasn’t until Lexa looked at Clarke that she realised that the screaming had come out of the blonde’s throat. “What the fuck did you just do, Jake?” Clarke cried, hysterical and extremely angry.

He held up the device, and it was a taser. “Had to shut her up somehow,” he grunted as he lifted Echo and hoisted her over his shoulder. “Don’t want to ever see that bitch again.”

“So what, you electrocuted her?” Clarke screamed as Mr Griffin walked towards the exit, where the two girls were standing.

“Get out of my way,” Mr Griffin ordered, a metre away from the blonde.

“No,” Clarke said bravely.

When Mr Griffin raised the taser menacingly, Clarke showed no signs of retreat. But when the blonde saw Lexa’s pleading look, begging her to not get themselves into any more trouble, Clarke stepped slightly to the side.

“That’s what I thought,” Mr Griffin grumbled as he shoved past his daughter, bumping her shoulder along the way.

“Where are you taking her?” Clarke demanded.

“Out,” was the simple response before the tall man disappeared around the corner and down the stairs.

Lexa had no idea what to do. Clarke was breaking down in front of her, and she had no idea what to do. While she feared what Mr Griffin was going to do to Echo, she feared what they just witnessed was going to do to Clarke more. Things were just looking up for them, and now Mr Griffin was just destroying their peace and happiness. She had never hated someone so much.

“I can’t believe it,” Clarke seethed, sobbing. “Who the actual fuck is that man? Why? Just why?”

“Shh,” Lexa rushed over to Clarke and held her in a tight embrace. “You still have me, Clarke. You still have me.”

Clarke just continued to sob into Lexa’s shoulder relentlessly.

***

It had been about three hours and since it was about time for lunch, Lexa decided to cook lasagne for Clarke given that she had told her that it was her favourite food a couple of months ago. Lexa just wanted to cheer the despondent blonde up: her shirt was still damp from all the crying and it just broke her heart to see Clarke so broken. Never had she seen a non-slave that was this miserable.

Now lasagne wasn’t as hard to make as Lexa thought it was initially, it was mostly layers of pasta that were cut into big squares with cheese and minced meat inside. While it was hard to get right, Lexa found, once she had done the first layer after making the pasta, the rest was a smooth ride. She was proud to say that she got the thing in the oven after only forty minutes. She didn’t manage to impress the blonde over breakfast, as she never finished making her omelette, but hopefully she will be able to impress her now with lunch. She just prayed that it tasted good. She had never attempted to make lasagne, after all.

She was just washing up the dishes while it was baking in the oven when she heard the sound of tyres on the gravel outside. Instantly freezing her movements and turning off the tap so that she could hear better, she could make out the sound of the car door slamming outside.

This most likely meant that Mr Griffin was back. Which meant that it was probably best if she didn’t stay here, alone, for any longer. Lexa decided that she would leave the dishes to after the meal, if there even was a meal in the first place, and she would go upstairs to Clarke’s room, which had become her sanctuary over the past few months.

When she creaked open the door to Clarke’s room, she could see the blonde lying motionless on the bed at first, but when Clarke heard the door open, she sat up.

“Hey,” Clarke’s voice was a bit hoarse.

“Hey, I just got lunch set up,” Lexa said. “I came up here because your dad’s back.”

“He’s not my dad,” Clarke said coldly.

“Okay, well, um, Jake is back,” Lexa felt a little uncomfortable referring to Mr Griffin with his first name. “And I don’t know, the food is downstairs, and he’s downstairs, um…”

“Don’t worry about that,” Clarke said. “We’ll still go downstairs to eat, he can’t do anything to us.”

“Okay,” Lexa nodded. “If you’re fine with it, I’m fine with it too.”

Clarke gave her a small smile. “So, what did you make?”

“Your favourite,” Lexa grinned. “It should be ready in thirty.”

“Well,” Clarke drawled. “In the meantime, stay here? I don’t really want you down there alone.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Lexa smiled.

***

Mr Griffin ended up sitting with the two girls at the lunch table. It wasn’t ideal, and Lexa had not planned on it happening, but as she was preparing the plates for the two of them in the kitchen, Mr Griffin just walked in, saw that Lexa had prepared a plate, took one, and left to sit at the dining table. Lexa knew better than to intervene and say that that plate belonged to Clarke.

He did say thank you, however, which confused Lexa to no end.

Anyway, Lexa explained the predicament to Clarke when she came into the kitchen, and Clarke just let out a heavy sigh. She said that they shouldn’t let Mr Griffin affect their daily lives, that they shouldn’t eat in the kitchen or on the sofa because of him, so they were still going to sit at the dining table, where they should’ve been at in the first place.

There was so much tension in the air that it was tangible. Mr Griffin just ate with his knife and fork, keeping to himself and not really bothering the two girls. Judging by the fact that he did not complain about the food, it probably meant that it was decent enough. With that in mind, Lexa tasted it and yes, it did work out a lot better than she expected for a first try.

The silence was broken about five minutes into the meal, however. Clarke looked like she had wanted to say something for quite a while now, and it seemed like she couldn’t resist anymore.

“Where is Echo?” Clarke demanded.

Mr Griffin merely looked up with a bored expression. “Why do you care?”

“Where is Echo?” Clarke repeated. “You left with her and returned without.”

“Gone,” was the simple answer and Mr Griffin turned his head down and continued to eat.

“Where?” Clarke shouted, slamming her knife down with a loud bang. “Where is she?”

“Calm yourself, young lady,” Mr Griffin scolded, picking up his napkin and wiping his mouth. “I said that she was gone, do I need to explain any more?”

“Yes,” Clarke said. “I will not stop until you tell me where she is.”

“Fine,” Mr Griffin set down his cutlery. “I freed her.”

That took both Lexa and Clarke aback. What on earth?

“Y-You _freed_ her? Is that even possible?” Clarke said incredulously.

Mr Griffin just shrugged nonchalantly and picked up his cutlery again, eating.

“Where is she now?” Clarke asked.

“I don’t know?” Mr Griffin said. “I took her down a few blocks and dumped her outside. She’s probably still there if she hasn’t woken up yet.”

“What?” Clarke nearly whispered, outraged. “That is not freeing!”

“Yes it is,” Mr Griffin shot back. “She said she got sick of me. I got sick of her. I took her away and left her there. She now gets the whole world to explore, and I’m rid of her. It’s a win-win.”

“It’s not,” Clarke seethed. “How can you do this? You left her out there to die! She has no food, no water, no shelter! She’s going to freeze to death when night falls!”

“That’s not my problem,” Mr Griffin shrugged. “She’ll figure something out if she’s smart. But I don’t really care.”

“This is what you did to every slave, isn’t it, that you’ve owned before. That’s why they all disappear one day, isn’t it?” Clarke growled.

“Yep. I’m doing them a favour. Most of them were happy that I was freeing them. I don’t know about Echo, though, she was still unconscious when I threw her away.”

“You’re a monster,” Clarke said, irate. “ _Threw her away_? You want to know something, Jake? I have never felt such _hatred_ towards one person before. You heard that? I _hate_ you.” With that, Clarke slammed her fork on the lasagne and stalked away.

Lexa caught Mr Griffin’s hurt expression before she decided that she didn’t want to be at the table anymore, so she got up as well and left briskly.

***

“I don’t even know how to feel anymore,” Clarke muttered as they were now both safely in the confines of her room again. “He killed her. Echo’s gone.”

“I don’t think so,” Lexa said. “Echo is really clever. She will find a way, don’t you worry.”

“How can you be so confident?” Clarke asked, meeting the brunette’s eyes.

“It’s just a gut feeling, and gut feelings never lie,” Lexa said, pointing to her midsection. “She’ll be fine.”

“I sure hope so,” Clarke sighed. “I’m sorry about lunch, Lex, I just couldn’t bear to see Jake anymore. It’s like he didn’t even care.”

“It’s okay,” Lexa said.

“No, the lasagne was really nice,” Clarke said, grabbing onto one of Lexa’s hands. “I’m sorry not finishing it.”

Yep, there they were, the butterflies and the tingles of electricity.

“I’m a good cook, aren’t I?” Lexa smirked, trying to lighten up the situation.

“The best,” Clarke said, leaning forward for a short peck.

That peck may have lasted a second, but to Lexa, it meant more than the eighteen years she had before she met Clarke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your theories as to what will happen next? I am intrigued to know :)  
> Take care!


	11. Hunger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the anon that said that I was disgusting and wished me a miserable life, my life is going great, thank you very much.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

It had been two weeks since Echo had been thrown out of the house by Mr Griffin, but it might as well have been yesterday. Lexa could still see how Echo’s face contorted in pain when the taser came into contact with her bare skin, screaming her lungs out as it hurt so much. Lexa could still see the way Echo’s body hung limply across Mr Griffin’s shoulder as he carried her out like dead livestock, lifeless. Even though Lexa thought that she had seen enough, been through enough trauma in her life to be immune to these incredibly cruel acts, what she saw broke her heart and haunts her at night.

She wasn’t sure why she felt so strongly towards this: after all, it wasn’t anything that she hadn’t seen before. At least no blood was shed, so in a way, what Mr Griffin did was more humane than what her third master did to her. While it was not sexual abuse most of the time, the thought of it still made her shudder. Maybe the reason behind why this haunted her so much is because Echo was her first true friend: they had each other’s backs during her first few months in the Griffin Estate and over time, their friendship had grown immensely, eventually getting to the point where they can be completely comfortable with each other, joking around and acting like little kids.

Lexa still remembered the time when she confronted Echo for the first time, the first time they had a conversation. It was after Echo got beaten up pretty badly and Lexa found her hiding in the wardrobe, trying to stop herself from whimpering due to the pain of the wounds. Well, Echo had been pretty stubborn and refused Lexa’s help at first, but eventually she relented. It felt really good, to be able to help someone get better. It was probably at that moment that Lexa found some meaning in life, that she was not worthless, a piece of junk that can be tossed away without a second thought.

And of course, Clarke. Clarke had more or less been her everything throughout these months. She had been so supportive, so patient. Lexa was now proud to say that she was able to read fluently now and is able to spell simple words quite well, and can write to some extent. She found that her handwriting is small and tidy, whereas Clarke’s handwriting was large and loopy. They were both good in their own ways. That aside, what Clarke had also done over the past few months was heal Lexa. Other than the physical healing that she did in the first week, which was incredibly effective by the way, as if it wasn’t for all the scars that remind Lexa of what she went through, she wouldn’t know that she had hurt in the first place, Clarke had also done a lot of emotional healing. Now Lexa walked with an admirable posture, carrying herself with an elegance that she did not possess before she set foot in the Griffin Estate. Lexa found that to be mainly due to more self-esteem and confidence, because Clarke made her feel like she was more than nothing.

And of course, Lexa couldn’t help but start falling in love with the blonde. She hasn’t said anything of the sort yet, they haven’t even regarded each other as anything but best friends who kiss all the time, because she didn’t want to scare the blonde off. She had a feeling that if she came up to Clarke one day and said, ‘I love you’, she would just slam the door back shut and want nothing to do with the brunette ever again.

Lexa’s life was going pretty great right now. She was so happy that Clarke reciprocated her feelings, if anything she initiated it. Lexa didn’t know that she was attracted to the blonde until she felt her lips on hers for the first time.

Except more recently, like over the past few days, Lexa found herself starting to notice more things about her master. Although, Clarke had made it pretty clear that she was not Lexa’s master, so maybe she should stop referring to Clarke as her master. Anyway, Lexa didn’t know how she didn’t see it before, Clarke’s lithe figure, the way how her clothes sometimes clung to her curves. Also sometimes, Lexa would find herself leering at Clarke’s cleavage, given that it is there to see if she was wearing something low-cut. Clarke would look up and Lexa would blush like an idiot, caught in the act.

These new sensations frightened the brunette. Partly because she did not know how to deal with all these new feelings that she felt. So far, it had all been innocent kisses, cuddles at night, and nothing else. And now, Lexa found herself wanting more.

Never had Lexa wanted sex before. If anything, sex was a punishment, something so unpleasurable that Lexa would do anything that she could to get away from it. But now, with all these weird sensations that pool around her legs whenever Clarke’s shorts rode up a _little_ too high, Lexa was having second thoughts.

It was a little funny: if someone said that Lexa would crave sex a year ago, Lexa would’ve slapped them in the face as the idea was so ludicrous.

Lexa sighed and continued to scrub at the dishes, not really paying attention to them. Ever since Echo had gone, Lexa had taken on the duty of doing some of the chores that were completely necessary, such as cooking and laundry. She didn’t really bother herself with cleaning the house or trimming the grass, because if she was going to be honest, she couldn’t be bothered to. They were time-consuming, boring and she had done enough of that kind of things for a lifetime, and she was only seventeen.

She was worried about Echo, but she was convinced that Echo was alright. She’ll find a way.

***

“It’s raining,” Clarke pouted as the two of them sat on the bed, watching the raindrops trickle down the glass on the window. It was starting to get dark, so the sky was some form of dark orange, as it has taken an orange hue due to the sun setting, and the storm clouds that were hovering over them made the sky darker than it should be.

“I know,” Lexa said. “It’s been raining all day, Clarke.”

“Still, I can’t help but wonder what Echo is doing,” Clarke sighed. “She was the longest-serving slave of the family, you know?” she turned to meet Lexa’s gaze. “I seriously thought that she was the one that we will keep. She’s good at what she does.”

“Echo is probably living out the city life right now,” Lexa said lightly, trying to steer them away from being in an ominous mood. “Just like we did back then, when we got all that food which made me sick.”

“Hopefully,” Clarke bit her lip. “I don’t know how she would get any money, however. Or how she would get any shelter. She’s probably going to sleep in the rain.”

“Well, at least it’s not cold,” Lexa shrugged. “It could be worse.”

“What if she got recognised as a slave? What if she just got claimed?” Clarke said.

“Then she’ll have food to eat,” Lexa mumbled, because that would be the best way to think about that. “I don’t think that we should worry about her,” she said. “She’s strong, ambitious, cunning. She’ll be fine. Worrying about her will not change anything.”

“I know,” Clarke sighed. “I kind of want to go out there and find her. But I have no idea where to look. It would be like looking for a grain of rice in a swimming pool.”

“I guess,” Lexa said contemplatively. She really wanted to get the subject away from Echo now, because it is making both of them sad and she doesn’t like it. Therefore, she scooted closer to the blonde and rested her head against Clarke’s chest, looking out the window. Her head was slightly tilted so the raindrops were travelling diagonally, but it was still beautiful. “Tell me something, Clarke,” Lexa mumbled, as she got comfortable.

She felt Clarke’s hands start to smooth her long mane of brunette hair. “What is it, Lex?”

“Why do I not see you go to school, like ever? I’ve seen little kids go to school sometimes, and you’re not technically an adult yet, so, um, why?” Lexa asked tentatively.

Clarke’s hands were starting to make a steady, soothing rhythm. “I quit last year,” she admitted.

Lexa tilted her head up slightly to look at Clarke. “Why?” she asked, not in judgement, but in curiosity. If Lexa ever had the opportunity to go to school, she would take it instantly. But maybe that is because she had been deprived of education her whole life. Maybe if she wasn’t born a slave and got to go to school from a very young age she would find it boring eventually. Guess being a slave makes one value things more, doesn’t it?

“I was in school when, you know, before my mum died. I was actually really good. I wasn’t the best, but I was consistently in the top five in the class at those end of topic tests, I had good grades, I was quite popular, the teachers liked me too,” Clarke explained. “But, um, after what happened to my mum, I kind of lost all motivation. My grades started to slip, I started to cut myself from my friends. I was miserable, and since you could quit after the final exams when you’re sixteen, I decided that school was not going to do me any good so I left.”

“Oh,” Lexa said in understanding, casting her gaze back towards the amber sky. “Do you regret it?”

“A little,” Clarke shrugged. “But I feel like it wouldn’t have made a difference whether or not I quit. I wasn’t in the right mental… mindset to learn anything anyway.”

“I guess that’s fair enough,” Lexa mumbled, watching two raindrops fuse together and continue its path down the window. A few seconds passed before Lexa twisted herself slightly and looked straight into Clarke’s eyes. “What are your dreams, Clarke?”

“My dreams?” Clarke chuckled. “Well, I haven’t really thought much about it. Back when I was young, I had considered being a surgeon, just like my mum.” Lexa’s eyes widened a little. So that was what her mum did professionally. She wondered what Mr Griffin did, and what made the Griffins so wealthy, provided that Mr Griffin was their main income source. “But that kind of went out the window when, um, you know what happened,” Clarke said slightly wistfully. “Being a doctor, let alone a surgeon, takes years of training anyway. If I was to pursue that career path I probably won’t save any lives until I’m like thirty.”

“Really? But what would make that take so long?” she asked.

“There’s a lot to learn,” Clarke said. “What you are doing can kill or save someone. They have to be sure that you are really trained before they let you take on proper operations.”

“That’s true,” Lexa nodded. “But what about now? Given that you don’t have dreams about being a doctor anymore, that is.”

“Now? I don’t know, if I am going to be honest,” Clarke said. “My life had taken a drastic turn, like a meteor knocking a planet off course. I guess that if I’m meant to do something in the future, if my life will turn out to have some purpose, I will find out eventually. Okay, that’s enough about me. What about you, Lex?”

“Me?” Lexa said. “Well, personally I don’t really think that there is a point in having dreams in the first place. Because I don’t think that they will come true.”

“Don’t say that,” Clarke admonished. “Nothing is impossible, Lexa, if you have faith. You’re the one who taught me that.”

“Okay, and it is coming back to bite me,” Lexa half-joked and Clarke chuckled. “But um, me, dreams? I don’t really know either, I guess I have never thought much about it. Probably something arty. I don’t think that I will be good with numbers or science or something like that.”

“Yeah, definitely. I think that you would be a good artist,” Clarke pointed out.

“I’ve never drawn anything before,” Lexa said slowly.

“I know,” Clarke smiled. “But I just know it. It’s like you said, gut feeling is never wrong.”

“You really remember every word I say, don’t you?” Lexa said, feeling her lips curve into a lopsided smirk.

“Yes,” Clarke said. “Because they are worth remembering. They are wise words, those.”

“They are not wise,” Lexa chuckled. “I literally made them up on the spot.”

“And you are a wise person, so I don’t see what’s wrong with my logic,” Clarke tilted her head slightly, so that their heads were now closer together.

The two of them stayed in that position for a while, just watching the raindrops trickle down, listening to the soft buzz of rain hitting the rooftops and the cement outside the house.

“I like this,” Lexa said, closing her eyes contently. “I like the petrichor.”

“Petrichor?” Clarke echoed.

“Yep,” Lexa said. “Petrichor. It’s like the nice smell that comes with rain.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m just surprised that you know that word,” Clarke said.

“Hey!” Lexa mocked offense, placing a hand on her heart. “Just because I’m a slave it doesn’t mean I’m stupid!”

“You were never a slave to me,” Clarke cooed. “And you never will be. And I never said you were stupid, if anything, you are so smart. You’re so amazing, Lex.”

Lexa felt herself blushing. She knew that Clarke had said that so many times, but it didn’t feel any less special than the first time that the blonde had said it.

“I think that you are just so amazing too, Clarke,” Lexa turned around so that they were now face-to-face. “I feel so lucky to even spend a minute with you.”

“I’m the lucky one,” Clarke mumbled, eyes darting down to Lexa’s lips and flickering back up to meet deep emerald orbs. Lexa found herself doing the same.

As if there was some invisible magnetic force between them and they were opposite ends of a magnet, their lips locked together and fireworks were back to exploding inside Lexa’s head.

The faint buzz of raindrops were still around them. Lexa knew that many people took rain as a sign of dismay, as a bad omen maybe, as a mood damper, but she never understood why. Rain was necessary for life, for plants to grow. Rain is beautiful.

Clarke let out a low groan when Lexa tilted her head slightly to deepen the kiss. This is what the brunette loved, times like this where she could just lose herself in Clarke. Her lovely smell, just… ah. She loved kissing the blonde so much. It made her forget about everything else, about the fact that she’s a slave, the fact that Mr Griffin is a persistent problem in their lives, and skip into another world altogether. A little bit like her in her dreams, except now she was sharing it with Clarke. It was so intimate, that Lexa felt her heart warm and beat faster as the kiss got more fervent with every passing second.

The need for oxygen was too much for them eventually, and Lexa broke the kiss temporarily, to catch her breath. She was able to get a single breath before Clarke let out a petulant whine and latched her lips back onto the brunette’s.

She didn’t know how much time passed, them just kissing like this, time works differently when you are in such bliss. Time seemed to warp, lasting forever and no time at the same time, it really was a strange, yet pleasant feeling. Then she felt something prod her lower lip, and it wasn’t until a few seconds later that Lexa realised that Clarke was prodding at her lower lip with her tongue.

That elevated Lexa’s arousal tenfold, and Lexa couldn’t help but open her mouth slightly to gain access to the blonde. Clarke wasted no time in exploring her mouth with her tongue, and it was one of the best things that Clarke had ever experienced in her life that she felt some kind of stickiness between her legs, as well as an intense heat gathering there. They had never kissed with tongue before, and Lexa was enjoying it so much that she just had to use her own tongue as well, and when it touched the blonde’s, she heard both of them moan. The huskiness and the sexiness of the moan made the space between Lexa’s legs even wetter.

Eventually, Clarke grabbed onto Lexa’s shoulders lightly and guided her down onto the bed, so that now Clarke was now above her, bodies flush.

Lexa opened her eyes for a brief moment to see nothing but Clarke’s slightly moving eyelashes, and with that Lexa closed her eyes again to wallow in the pleasure of them kissing intimately. Their tongues clashed with each other’s frequently, and Lexa couldn’t stop the small, breathy moans that escaped the back of her throat.

She felt some kind of pressure in between her legs, like somewhere on her lower abdomen, and it wasn’t until a bit later that she realised that Clarke’s body was pressing down onto her, flush. And when Clarke’s hips started to subconsciously rock, the pleasure was too intense that Lexa had to break the kiss to suck in a deep breath.

“Are you okay?” Clarke asked, worried, stopping her movements. Lexa’s body immediately started to call for more, for Clarke had stopped.

“Yeah,” Lexa mumbled, smiling softly.

“I’m sorry,” Clarke said softly. “I probably shouldn’t have done that, I guess I just did that instinctively.”

“No,” Lexa looked deep into Clarke’s sapphire eyes, darker than usual. “It’s okay. I want this.”

Clarke looked a bit hesitant. “Don’t feel pressured at all, Lex. It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“No really, Clarke,” Lexa said reassuringly. “I want this.”

“Okay,” Clarke whispered slowly. “But if you at any point want to stop, tell me, I will, okay? I will never force you into anything like this.”

“I know,” Lexa whispered back.

Clarke looked a little nervous, but the arousal was still evident in her expression. “I’ve never done this with anyone before,” she muttered.

“That’s okay,” Lexa said with a soft smile. “I trust you.”

Clarke’s warm smile was the last thing that Lexa saw before she closed her eyes, for the blonde had reattached her lips onto hers.

When she felt strong hips press into her own, she let out another gasp. She couldn’t believe that this was happening. This was amazing. Lexa felt nervous, and scared, but more than anything, she felt excited and exhilarated.

Clarke’s tongue entered her mouth again, and this time it was the blonde who let out a moan. She started to undulate her hips again, and every time it went down on the brunette’s hips, Lexa felt this jolt of pleasure so intense that it made her gasp again and again.

Within no time, Lexa couldn’t hold it in any longer. The heat between her legs was getting so intense, yet it was begging for more. Lexa started to gyrate her hips as well, creating some form of friction with the blonde’s which got both of them to moan again.

Time was warping again. Lexa had never reciprocated the act once in her life, every time she had just laid there, squeezing her eyes shut, waiting for it to be over already. But this time, she wanted it to never end.

Some time passed before Clarke was gripping at the bottom of Lexa’s shirt, silently asking for permission. Lexa nodded, and soon, Clarke pulled her shirt up, and Lexa lifted her body slightly so that the clothing could be taken off.

As soon as Lexa’s top was off, Clarke took hers off as well in one fluid motion. Through the blurry haze of her vision, Lexa could see the smooth, creamy skin underneath, that was illuminated by the weak orange light from the outside. She was so beautiful.

“You’re so beautiful,” Clarke whispered lovingly as she trailed her way down, placing down tender kisses on different parts of Lexa’s body: on her throat, her shoulder, her chest, her stomach.

“It’s not,” Lexa mumbled, and Clarke got what she meant.

“These scars, they’re beautiful,” she insisted, trailing her kisses up again until she was eye-level with the brunette. “You are beautiful, everywhere, inside and out.”

Lexa blushed slightly before Clarke’s lips met her mouth again, kissing with ardour.

Lexa let her hands wander, up the smooth skin on Clarke’s back, before settling on her waist. Clarke was doing the same thing. Their hips were still rocking into each other’s, and while it was so pleasurable, Lexa’s body was still screaming for more.

Clarke seemed to want more too. She was already pulling on Lexa’s pants, asking for permission to take them off, and Lexa answered by lifting her hips slightly, allowing the blonde to take it off. It took about fifteen seconds before Lexa was completely naked except that she still had a bra on, and Clarke quickly took her jeans off as well, throwing them off to the side. Her panties quickly followed.

Finding it a little strange that her bra was the last article of clothing that she still had on, she unclasped it and took it off, and Clarke smirked. Clarke quickly took off her bra as well, and within no time their bodies were flush against each other’s again, this time without the clothing acting as a restriction. The way that their breasts were moulding into each other… the ecstasy was indescribable. Lexa was already seeing stars.

Clarke’s fingers started to trail down Lexa’s body, and when they reached Lexa’s stomach, she seemed to hesitate.

“Lex…” Clarke mumbled, breaking the kiss momentarily. “Are you sure you want this?”

“Yes,” Lexa’s voice was a low groan. “Please…”

Clarke’s fingers resumed its motion down Lexa’s body, and when her warm fingers finally met the sensitive bundle of nerves between the brunette’s legs, Lexa let out a loud moan.

“God, Lex,” she could vaguely register Clarke saying in awe. “You’re so wet.”

“I know,” Lexa grunted, squeezing her eyes shut. “Please, Clarke.”

Clarke started to rub, creating delicious friction, and when her index finger finally found the sensitive nub, Lexa let out another loud moan and arched her back.

“Does that feel good, baby?” Clarke whispered.

Lexa couldn’t speak; it was simply impossible to. She could only nod as Clarke continued to rub profusely, sometimes flicking the nub with her thumb and every time she did that, a huge wave of pleasure washed through Lexa’s system that she didn’t even know what sounds she was making anymore. She could see whites in her vision, and she couldn’t help but throw her head back, breathing becoming erratic.

After what seemed like too long, Clarke tentatively stuck a finger inside, and Lexa had to try her hardest to not come right here and now.

It didn’t hurt at all. Before, when she was being penetrated, it hurt like a bitch. Now, it brought nothing but pleasure. Maybe the fact that she was completely soaked had something to do with it, maybe it acted as a lubricant or something.

“Ah!” Lexa moaned when Clarke’s single finger started to move up and down, in and out. Lexa started to rock her hips again, creating maximum friction, intensify the waves of pleasure even more.

Some time later, Clarke stuck a second finger inside, and Lexa might have moaned again. Everything was blurry, everything was a haze, she was seeing stars everywhere, she didn’t know which way was up.

Lexa could feel something building deep inside her, like a balloon that was starting to get bigger and bigger.

It just felt so good. She couldn’t really process anything other than the intense ecstasy that she was experiencing right now.

The balloon was growing bigger and bigger. Bigger and bigger.

“Please open your eyes, Lex,” she hears Clarke moan breathily, and through the smog of oblivion, Lexa was able to open her deep green eyes. Everything was brighter than usual, she could see blurred lines, she could see the orbs of intense blue that said nothing but pure love.

When she felt Clarke curl her fingers inside her, she felt the balloon pop, sending her into cloud nine, sending her into blissful oblivion. No words could describe how she felt.

She may have screamed. She had no control of her vocal cords, she had no idea.

Clarke’s hips slowed to a stop, pulling out her fingers slowly, and as it came out, Lexa let out another moan.

It took a few minutes for Lexa to regain her breath. She had never felt so spent before. She had never felt so happy before. She felt like she was on top of the world, over the moon.

“Was I good?” Clarke’s uncertain voice was the first thing that Lexa could register when she came down from her high.

Clarke’s insecurity made Lexa laugh. “Good? That was absolutely amazing,” she said, still a little out of breath from the aftershocks of her orgasm.

“You sure?” Clarke asked, quietly.

“You just made me come for the first time,” Lexa said, smiling warmly because she was so happy, so giddy.

“God,” Clarke said, nervously chuckling. “Really?”

“Yes,” Lexa whispered, reaching up slightly to plant a tender peck on the blonde’s lips. Her legs felt like jelly.

The two of them laid there, in each other’s arms, until Lexa wanted to make something clear.

“Clarke, does this mean that we’re girlfriends?” she asked nervously.

“I was going to say the same thing,” Clarke giggled. “Does it? Do you want to?”

“I really do,” Lexa said.

“Well, then we are,” Clarke said. “Although it is a bit strange. Normally people become girlfriends before they have sex.”

“Nothing about us has ever been normal,” Lexa said softly. “We have always been special.”

“I guess that’s true,” Clarke chuckled, and the two girls leaned in for another kiss again.

“In the meantime, I do have another wish,” Lexa said, once they broke apart.

“What is it?” Clarke asked.

“I want to return the favour,” Lexa stated.

“You sure?” Clarke said. “You don’t have to, don’t feel forced to just because I –”

“I want to,” Lexa stated firmly, cutting her off. “Will you let me?”

Clarke’s smile turned to a seductive one. “Of course, Lex. You can show me just how _skilled_ those fingers are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too fast? I don't know, I just wanted to get this story moving.  
> This is the first sex scene that I have ever written, so please be kind!  
> I hope you enjoyed!


	12. Bubbles

Lexa found herself walking down a long, desolate, deserted street. The sky was a bit grey, filled with many clouds. It wasn’t raining, but she could feel the humidity in the air and smell the soft scent of the dew that was on the leaves on the trees next to her.

Her modest footsteps kept her company as Lexa kept walking down the street. It was nice to breathe some fresh air: maybe this is why some people like to go on morning runs. Because it helps to clear their head, make them feel a bit better. Maybe she should try morning runs sometime, because it looks like something that would be good for her health.

The clouds suddenly parted and Lexa found herself being beamed down upon by intense orange light. It was early morning, now she realised. Well, if it was early morning, why not just run? The best time to start is now, right?

With that, Lexa’s legs started to move themselves into a slow jog. It was nice, feeling the soft breeze whip across the side of her face as she ran down the long, silent street.

It was serene, it was tranquil. It was very nice.

It wasn’t until two minutes into her run, that Lexa realised that she recognised the street that she was running in. Wasn’t this the exact same place that Clarke had taken her some time ago, where the night market was? So this was what it looked like when all the stalls were taken down.

Lexa knew that she should feel a little frightened at the fact that there were no signs of life at all in this street, but she didn’t feel scared at all. All she felt was… relaxed. Relaxed as the lactic acid started to build up in her lower calf, feeling her muscles stretch and tense with the exertion of her jogging.

Time seemed to warp, and Lexa was starting to get tired. Running was really tiring! She didn’t know how people could run for hours without stopping. She could barely last more than 5 minutes.

Wait. How did she get here in the first place? She was by herself, and since she was a slave she wasn’t meant to leave the house at any time unless she was accompanied by her master, or had their consent. Did she ask Clarke? She must have.

She couldn’t remember.

Afraid that she would get into trouble, Lexa turned back around. Maybe she should start making her way back to the Griffin Estate, Clarke would be worried about her, especially if she just left without a word. It was still early morning, she still had time. She’ll be back before she’s awake.

She saw an opening at the side of the street, turning off into a narrow road. Not really wanting to go down the barren street any longer, Lexa took the exit and when she made it out after a minute or so, she found herself at the gates of the Griffin Estate.

Well, that was quick. She’ll make sure to keep that shortcut in mind, so that if she goes to the night market with Clarke again they can use it. She had no idea that it was this close. Well, you learn new things every day.

The gate was unlocked, so Lexa walked inside. She may have forgotten to close the gate behind her, but oh well, she’ll do it later. The trek through the gravel wasn’t that long, it took her about two minutes maximum, and she made it to the front door.

Why was it painted black? That was really strange. The last time Lexa saw it, she was pretty sure that it was white. Or was it red? Her memory was a little fuzzy.

Wordlessly, Lexa creeked the door open and stepped inside. The air was cold and frigid, and soon Lexa’s teeth started to chatter. Why was it colder inside than outside? How was that even possible? Lexa grabbed a green coat that happened to be on the radiator next to her, and she put it around her shoulders. She didn’t recall having ever seen it before, but it fit her snugly, and she was cold, so she wasn’t going to complain.

She decided to walk upstairs quietly, not wanting to call attention to herself. If Mr Griffin didn’t know that she had been out by herself and found her, she would be in trouble. She didn’t want what happened to Echo to happen to her too.

Wait, she was going the wrong way. Maybe she should go to her room instead, Clarke would probably not appreciate Lexa sleeping in her bed.

That in mind, Lexa did a 180 turn and walked down the corridor again, where the stairs to the basement were. Her slippers make a clack with every step she took down the quartz stairs, and within no time she is in front of the familiar door to her own room.

When she turned the handle and opened the door, the sight that greeted her was not one that she expected.

“Clarke?” Lexa called out, because she saw the mane of long blonde hair. The blonde’s back was facing Lexa, and she was hunched over Lexa’s bed.

Clarke did not move at all. Her body was shaking slightly, as if she was crying.

Is she crying? Lexa moved forward with another tentative, “Clarke?”, tongue subconsciously clicking over the ‘k’ sound. Clarke didn’t seem to hear her. She kept on sobbing, hunched over something that Lexa realised was a body.

“It’s no use,” a voice to her right startled her. Lexa whipped around to see a middle-aged woman with long brown hair, giving her a soft, warm smile.

“M-Mum?” Lexa gasped, unable to comprehend what was going on right now. “W-What are you doing here?”

Lexa’s mother, Tabitha, smiled gently. “I am so proud of you, Lex.”

Lexa stared wide-eyed at the woman that she had not seen in four years. “G-God, I missed you…” she nearly sobbed as she surged forward to engulf her mother in a hug, but when she finally got there, her mother was gone.

“Lexa,” this time it was Clarke’s voice. Lexa turned around to see the blonde at the bed again, but she still had her back turned.

“Yes?” Lexa replied, just wishing that Clarke would turn around and meet her eyes.

“Lexa,” this time the voice was louder, and it seemed to come from all directions. Lexa was so confused, what was going on?

“Lexa!”

Lexa sat up and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. What kind of dream was that? She shook her head slightly to gather her surroundings, and when she finally made sense of where she was, she found that she was in Clarke’s room, in Clarke’s bed.

The events of the night before suddenly came rushing back to Lexa’s mind that she blushed profusely. She felt blindly for her own body, and didn’t know whether to feel mortified or satisfied when she felt bare skin there. She was naked.

And Clarke was right next to her, propped up on her elbow, staring at her with an expression that if Lexa dared to say, read love. She couldn’t be sure, however.

Clarke was so pretty. The light reflected off her skin in such a way that it made her glow.

“Bad dream?” Clarke asked, a little worried. “You were twisting and turning a lot, and I just thought that I should wake you up in case you were having a nightmare. It is morning, anyway, so it shouldn’t be that bad that I interrupted your beauty sleep, right?”

“No, it’s fine,” Lexa chuckled, leaning back so that her head was on the pillow again. “My dream wasn’t bad, in itself. It was just really weird.”

“In what way?” Clarke asked, curious.

“Well,” Lexa drawled, gathering the words she needed to explain herself. “I was in the street of the night market, then I was back home, and I saw you crying, and then I saw my mum. I have no idea what happened.”

“You saw your mum?” Clarke seemed to be more interested in that than the reasons behind why she was crying. “Did she say anything?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” Lexa scratched her head to try and recall what it was that she had said. “She said that she was proud of me,” she said slowly, and then she suddenly came to a horrifying realisation. “What if it was her ghost coming to visit me in my sleep? She just disappeared when I tried to hug her. What if she’s dead?”

“It’s only a dream,” Clarke reassured convincingly. “Plus, I’m really proud of you too.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lexa sighed.

The two laid there for a few minutes in calm silence, until Clarke suddenly spoke up again.

“Look, about last night –” Clarke started.

Lexa immediately jumped to the worst conclusion. “You thought that it was a mistake?” she asked.

“No!” Clarke said quickly, quelling Lexa’s fears immediately. “I was going to say, um,” Clarke blushed slightly. “It was all real, right? You were doing it because you wanted to, not because you had to, right?”

“Yes,” Lexa whispered, relieved. “It was as real to me as it was to you.”

“Good,” Clarke smiled. “Well, that’s… great! We’re still girlfriends, right?”

“Yes,” Lexa closed her eyes and beamed. How did she get so lucky? “It’s an amazing feeling. No one has ever made me feel the way you made me feel before, Clarke.”

“Same here, Lexa. You are so amazing,” Clarke cooed and leaned in to peck the brunette.

Clarke moved back after a second, but Lexa chased the blonde’s lips and connected their lips again. Soon, they were kissing fervently, and everything disappeared, except for Lexa, and Clarke.

***

It had now been three days since… that night. The night that Lexa was sure that she would never forget in her life, the night that made her feel like her head was in the clouds and she was weightless. It had been three days, and Lexa could still not find an adjective that did how she felt then justice.

They had done the deed once more these past few days, and that was the night straight after their first night together. Lexa moved with more fluidity and confidence than the first time, and she managed to make Clarke scream.

It was truly one of the proudest moments of Lexa’s life. To know that you are making the one you love to feel that way, it is truly amazing, it is a phenomenal feeling.

Lexa knew that she still had not confessed that she loved Clarke yet, but that wa because she didn’t want to scare the blonde off, and plus, she had no idea if Clarke’s feelings for the brunette were this deep yet. After all, it was still relatively early in their relationship, so there was still time for both of them to develop even stronger feelings for each other. Yet, Lexa was pretty sure that she was falling deeper and deeper for the blonde with each passing day, that she was falling in love with her. She just hoped that their relationship lasted long enough for Clarke to say that she loved her back. Her pessimistic side kept telling her that a break up was inevitable, because these sorts of romances are technically frowned upon and forbidden, but she didn’t listen to it. She didn’t need any negativity in her life; it did no good.

Lexa closed her eyes and dreamed of the moment when the words ‘I love you, Lexa’ came out of Clarke’s mouth. She could almost hear it in her voice… When that actually happens, if it happens, she will die of happiness, Lexa was pretty sure.

She was so lost in that thought that when someone’s voice suddenly piped up, she jumped a foot into the air.

“Lexa,” it was not Clarke’s voice. That could only mean one thing.

Fearfully, Lexa turned around to face the steel-cold blue eyes that seemed to be penetrating, calculating, and dangerous all at the same time.

“Lexa,” Mr Griffin said again, clearly waiting for some kind of response.

Lexa’s mouth went dry. She didn’t know what to do. She was alone, just minding her own business, and she was cornered now. Mr Griffin was blocking the way of escape, and Lexa had no idea what he had in store for her.

When he gave up trying to get Lexa to respond, he said formally, “I believe that you are aware of what happened to Echo. So, from now on, you are to do all her duties.”

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but then Clarke burst into the room. She went straight past Mr Griffin and to Lexa’s side, standing protectively in front of her.

“What are you doing?” she says, posture poised as if she was about to attack.

“Just talking to your slave here,” Mr Griffin shrugged. “Since it is so _obvious_ that you don’t want me talking to her, I’ll just leave.”

Lexa held her breath until Mr Griffin disappeared behind the door. But then Mr Griffin popped his head back and added, “No excuses.” And then he left for real.

Clarke stood there, alert, for another minute or so, and when she was confident that Mr Griffin was not going to come back, she let her guard down slightly and turned to Lexa, expression tender and caring.

“Are you alright?” she said softly, a little worried.

“Yeah,” Lexa gulped at their close proximity. “He didn’t do anything, don’t worry.”

“You sure? What did he say?” Clarke said, still concerned.

“He just told me to do all of Echo’s chores,” Lexa sighed. She couldn’t really be bothered; the prospect alone made her feel tired. “Guess he is not getting another one from the market, then.”

“That’s outrageous,” Clarke said angrily. “He has no right, you’re not his property. Don’t do them, you don’t have to. If Jake is not happy with that, then he’ll have to suck it up, won’t he?”

“It’s fine,” Lexa replied. “I don’t want to get both of us in trouble. And plus, ever since Echo got thrown out I’ve been doing all the cooking and laundry. So, it won’t really make much of a difference.”

“It’s still not fair to you,” Clarke pouted. “This shouldn’t be your burden.”

“It shouldn’t have been Echo’s in the first place,” Lexa shrugged. “Seriously, I’ve done worse before. I’ll be fine.”

“Well,” Clarke mumbled. “If that is the case, I’m doing it with you.”

“No, you don’t have to,” Lexa put up a hand. “Seriously, I’ll be fine –”

“I want to!” Clarke raised her voice and Lexa flinched a little bit at the unexpected outburst. “Sorry, it’s just that, um, I’m kind of looking for excuses to spend more time with you?” Clarke looked up shyly with hope in her eyes.

Lexa laughed. “Well, why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” she chuckled, slapping the blonde playfully on the arm. “If that is the case, then you are more than welcome to help. I kind of want some company too.”

***

“And… voila. Will you look at that,” Lexa said light-heartedly as she, along with Clarke, entered the kitchen.

Clarke gaped at the sight in front of her. “What on earth? What happened here?”

“Well,” Lexa smirked slyly. “I _may_ have neglected to do all the dishes over the past few days, and we _may_ have quite a bit of a job ahead of us.”

“Ugh,” Clarke groaned. “Seriously? Since when did we have this many plates?”

“Well, you are in one hell of a rich family,” Lexa said. “I probably shouldn’t have let it all build up like this. Do you smell it?”

“Smell what?” Clarke frowned slightly, but then the scent diffused to where she was standing.

“Yep,” Lexa smiled as Clarke grimaced and started to gag. “That is the smell of food rotting for three days.”

“That is grim,” Clarke choked. “So we better wash all this up, shouldn’t we? This is not going to be fun.”

“No, it isn’t,” Lexa echoed. “You don’t have to do it, if you don’t want to. You can like, watch me or something. I’m pretty badass when it comes to this kind of stuff.”

“That’s unfair on you,” Clarke said. “I think I need to start taking on some responsibility. I’m nearly an adult now, and I have washed the dishes like twice in my life. I need this.”

“Well, if you say so,” Lexa said as she walked towards the smelly plates, bowls, and cutlery. “I think that we should have some form of a system as we wash. Makes the job more efficient, you know?”

“Like… division of labour?” Clarke asked.

“Bullseye,” Lexa said. “So, do you want to wash or dry?”

Clarke eyed the plates apprehensively, probably at all the grease that was on it.

“Uh…” she faltered, still unable to come up with a coherent response after a while.

“I’m guessing you don’t want to touch it, as it’s disgusting? That’s okay,” Lexa said. “I’ll wash, you dry, that sound good?”

“Yeah,” Clarke agreed, nodding her head. “Anything to not touch… _that_.”

With that, the two girls started to work diligently. At first, they were slightly slow, because Lexa was used to working by herself and Clarke had barely done any of this sort of thing before. But as time went on, they started to get into a steady rhythm and soon, the drying rack was starting to build up with plates, fast.

“You see this?” Lexa spun a shiny plate up into the air that she had just washed. It came down, and Lexa caught it with the tip of her index finger, so that it balanced on top of it and continued to spin, a little bit like a basketball. “ _Skilled fingers_.”

“Ooh, I certainly have no doubts about that,” Clarke teased. “Let me try,” she said, grabbing the plate off the tip of the brunette’s finger. “So, um, how do you do it?”

“Twist it as you throw it up so that it spins, and aim for the centre of the plate,” Lexa explained.

“Okay…” Clarke threw the plate up to about a foot and she tried to catch it with a finger, but then she missed the centre and the plate came tumbling down onto the floor.

Clarke squealed, no doubt waiting for the imminent shatter of the plate, but the crash never came. Lexa caught the plate before it could hit the ground, because no offense to Clarke, she kind of saw it coming.

“My fingers are superior,” Lexa smirked, spinning the plate on her fingertip again.

“No they are not!” Clarke argued.

“Are so,” Lexa taunted.

“Are not!”

“Are so!”

“Are not!” Clarke shouted, and she reached over to the sink and splashed a handful of water on Lexa’s face. Lexa, clearly caught off guard by this, lost her grip on the plate and it dropped onto the floor. Miraculously, it did not shatter.

Lexa bent down and retrieved the plate, putting it on the rack before she broke it for real. Then she turned slowly to meet Clarke’s amused blue eyes.

“You did not just did that,” Lexa said slowly, quiet and warning.

“Maybe I just did,” Clarke was trying hard to suppress her smile.

In retaliation, Lexa grabbed a handful of water and chucked it towards Clarke’s face, who squealed and flinched to get away, but could not keep her face from being splashed.

She wiped the water away from her face and turned to meet Lexa’s gaze again with a devilish smirk.

“Oh, it’s on,” she said, switching on the tap this time and collecting two hands’ worth of water, and pouring it all the way down Lexa’s front, inside her shirt.

Lexa gasped at the coldness of the water. “How could you?” her voice ended up being a raspy whisper. She lifted her shirt slightly and quite a lot of water leaked out the bottom. “You are going to pay for this!”

With that, Lexa grabbed a cup from the rack, filled it with water. But when she turned around, Clarke was already getting out of there.

“Not so fast!” Lexa shouted after her, and chasing her. She caught up quickly, before Clarke had even left the kitchen, and poured the cupful of water straight down her neck, down her back, leaving her drenched.

“That is _cold_!” Clarke squeaked as Lexa grinned triumphantly. “Fine. You want to play dirty? I’ll give you dirty!” she said, and ducked beneath the brunette’s arms to get back. Lexa followed, wanting to prevent her from getting too much water to splash, but when she got there, Clarke suddenly turned around without getting any water and smeared Lexa’s entire face with foam with the sponge.

“Gah!” Lexa cried, wiping at her face to get rid of the foam. “You! Come back here!” she hollered when Clarke dashed away, giggling hysterically.

Lexa grabbed a saucepan and filled it with water. _Hurry up, hurry up_ , she told the tap. Every second was precious, Clarke was getting away!

When it was about half-full, it was satisfactory for Lexa so she turned off the tap and turned to see where Clarke had gone. When she couldn’t make out where the blonde was, she moved to go out of the kitchen, fully intent on getting payback, but she suddenly felt something splash her back.

“Surprise!” Clarke yelled giddily, holding a half-empty bag of flour.

Did Clarke really just throw flour on her? Oh, she is going to pay. So. Hard.

Lexa emptied the contents of the entire saucepan on the blonde, who was standing a little too close to be safe. Clarke screamed when the cold water drenched her from head to toe.

“Hey! No fair!” she squeaked as she batted at her face and hair, trying to get rid of all the water.

“Is fair!” Lexa argued, going back to get more water.

Clarke moved forward to stop her, but before she could she slipped on the wet floor and started to fall.

Lexa saw what was going on, and not wanting to see her girlfriend hurt she turned back around and surged forward.

Clarke landed in Lexa’s arms, but the force of Clarke’s weight was enough to send them both tumbling forward and onto the wet ground.

Lexa was on top of Clarke, staring right down at her, both of them breathing heavily.

“I think that we just made a mess,” Clarke whispered.

“And who’s fault is that?” Lexa said, not moving from her position on top of the blonde.

“Shut up,” Clarke said, blushing slightly.

Clarke was soaked from head to toe, so her clothes were hugging tightly to her figure, showing all the curves that Lexa liked so much. Lexa suddenly felt arousal pooling between her legs again, and she did little to stop what her body is instinctively telling her to do. She dove down and connected her lips with the blonde’s in a searing kiss.

“Mm,” Clarke moaned when Lexa prodded her tongue on the blonde’s lower lip.

They were about the same height, so Lexa’s hips were right on top of the blonde’s. Taking advantage of that, she ground down on the blonde forcefully, creating that delicious friction that she loved so much. She just couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her mouth when a juicy wave of ecstasy shot through her system.

“Ugh,” Clarke’s voice was breathy and husky. Lexa opened her eyes and continued to grind, and she could see Clarke’s eyes turn an indigo shade, darkened with lust and arousal. “Lex,” she panted. “We should take this upstairs.”

“Yeah, we probably should,” Lexa agreed reluctantly, and much to the protest of her body, she got up from the blonde. She was instantly craving more. “Come,” she ordered, grabbing one of Clarke’s hands and leading her upstairs to the blonde’s bedroom. She’ll deal with the mess later, that is a problem for another time.

Clarke couldn’t stop giggling the whole way up, and when they finally shut the door behind them in Clarke’s room, Lexa pushed the blonde onto the bed.

“Ooh, assertive, I like it,” Clarke winked when Lexa slid up her body, back to the position they were in just downstairs in the kitchen.

“That’s me,” Lexa husked seductively before she started to undulate her hips in a rhythm, sending shocks of pleasure through her system every time her hips went down.

Clarke’s moans got breathier, louder, and more erratic. She pulled at Lexa’s shirt.

“Off,” she commanded, and Lexa complied instantly. Soon Clarke’s shirt was off too, and the two girls were back to kissing with ardour.

They were so lost in their pleasure that they did not hear the sound of footsteps up the stairs.

“Clarke, what the hell is that mess downstairs?”

Lexa froze as she heard the voice, but before she could do anything about it, the door opened.

“Get your slave to clean it – WHAT THE FUCK?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed...  
> Drop a comment, please? A few words go a long way <3


	13. Red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Violence

Lexa thought that she knew fear.

After all, she was raised in fear. She was living in fear before she even knew what it was. The fear she felt when she was ripped away from her mother, and sold to her first master. The fear she felt when she was hit for the first time, the fear she felt when she was constantly abused, the fear she felt at night. The fear she had for her mother when she was little, when her mother would disappear for extended periods of time and come back wearing thick clothing, which Lexa later realised hid all the bruises.

But none of that fear compares to the fear she felt right now.

It was a strange feeling. It was like all of her body decided to shut down, leaving her brain to deal with all the consequences. Lexa could not move, she could not breathe, she could not blink.

She just stayed fixed exactly where she was, still on top of Clarke, seemingly frozen in time. She still had her bra on, and so did Clarke, but both of their tops were off. It was clear what they were doing.

Lexa did not dare to turn her head to see who was at the door, because she already knew who it was, and she could already see the disbelief, shock, and anger that would cloud his features. So instead, she tried to find solace by staring into Clarke’s eyes, which read pure anxiety, fear, and dread. Lexa guessed that her own green eyes said the same thing.

But… she was a sex slave, right? They were meant to have sex with their masters, no?

_“You are hers, remember. Never the other way round.”_

She was topping Clarke, where it should be the other way round for it to be acceptable.

They were so screwed.

Clarke opened her mouth to speak, moving Lexa to the far side of the bed so that she could at least protect the brunette with her acting as a barrier, but before she was able to move an inch, Mr Griffin was upon them.

Lexa felt her body being lifted and soon enough she was tossed aside like a rag doll.

She should be used to this pain, after all this was nothing compared to the things that she had been through. But after so long at the Griffin Estate and so much “therapy” from Clarke, she had nearly forgotten the life she had before Clarke appeared. But as soon as her body hit the wall, long-lost, familiar pain seared through her system. She was pretty sure that it was going to bruise.

That wasn’t enough. Mr Griffin was soon gaining on her, marching over to where she was sprawled against the wall, and leaning down. Lexa braced herself, but then she was hearing two voices.

Two screams. Clarke, and her dad.

Clarke was screaming at the top of her lungs for Mr Griffin to stop, to leave them alone. Mr Griffin, on the other hand, was screaming into Lexa’s ear.

“WHAT THE FUCK? YOU FUCKING WORTHLESS WHORE!” Mr Griffin continued to yell profanities, but soon Lexa tuned him out because she couldn’t take it anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly as Mr Griffin continued to yell into her ear.

She refused to pick up a single word of what he said. There was no point: she had enough verbal abuse already from her past masters to last a lifetime. Besides, Clarke had told her again and again to not listen to whatever he had to say, because those harsh words were not true.

Before long, Mr Griffin seemed to realise that Lexa wasn’t listening so he slapped her harshly across her face.

It hurt a lot. But Lexa kept her eyes shut, defiantly trying her best to keep her breathing steady. It helped a little with the pain, but when there were still two voices shouting and screaming in one small room, it gets kind of unbearable.

Her head was hurting, it was pounding, it was throbbing. Fear was still in her system, but right now adrenaline was clouding it, so she didn’t feel as scared as she did when she got caught. Nevertheless, she still wanted to crawl into a hole and hide there forever. Anywhere but under the direct wrath of Mr Griffin. She had a feeling that she was going to get worse than what Echo got in a lifetime.

Her emerald eyes were forced to open when she felt a boot plant deeply into her gut. Bile surged up her throat and she doubled over on the floor, her entire front on fire and throbbing rhythmically with waves of agony.

She couldn’t really register anything anymore, her vision was red. She felt like throwing up, but she had a feeling that that would just make everything worse, so she did her best to refrain from doing so.

She was able to recover after a minute, and that was when she realised that she was no longer being assaulted.

She sat up with a groan, and when she saw why, her heart stopped.

Mr Griffin wasn’t hitting her, because he had turned his attention on Clarke. The blonde, by now, had put on a black shirt which read “FRIENDS”. Lexa found herself smiling despite all the pain. There was a bit of irony in that too: they weren’t really friends anymore, they were so much more than that. Yet, it warmed her heart to see Clarke standing up so defiantly for her. It made her feel special, and more importantly, it made her feel loved.

Mr Griffin wasn’t hitting Clarke, he probably couldn’t bring it upon himself to hit her anyway. Clarke was screaming words that were too foul and filled to the brim with rage that Lexa found it hard to keep up, but she got the general gist: Clarke was incredibly angry at her dad for hitting her. And there were things about how there he had no right, that it was her choice, and that it was legal, and all the other shenanigans that Lexa couldn’t comprehend fast enough.

It was all a haze. Lexa found her vision going a little blurry, and her breathing starting to get shallower. She hoped that she wasn’t bleeding internally, because if she was she was going to be in huge trouble and she doubted that she would get the medical attention that she needed if that was the case.

She was managing the pain well, though. Mr Griffin had only slapped her and kicked her, nothing new.

But then something happened that made her forget her pain and made her pupils dilate with adrenaline.

Mr Griffin was holding the taser in his hand. Did he carry that with him everywhere?

He was trying to drag a screaming Clarke away from the scene with force, but Clarke was fighting back. And seeing that he was struggling, he decided to take things into another, much more dangerous, level.

“Clarke!” Lexa’s voice broke a bit with the exertion of her raising her voice. It wasn’t nearly loud enough to be heard over all the ruckus and screams that were taking place in the house right now, but miraculously Clarke stopped and turned her head to face Lexa.

Her expression held so much panic, despair, and apology that it broke Lexa’s heart.

“Please,” Lexa whispered. “Just let him, I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“But Lex,” a tear trailed out from Clarke’s eye. “He’s going to hurt you. I don’t – I’m not going to let that happen.”

“It’s okay, Clarke,” Lexa mumbled, wincing a little bit. “I’ll be fine.”

“You won’t!” Clarke insisted, seemingly forgetting that Mr Griffin still had a grip on her. “You –”

“Please, Clarke,” Lexa whispered, and the contrast of the noise level compared to a minute ago was so great that it was fascinating. Right now, it was calm and quiet. “Please just let him. If not for you, do it for me?”

Clarke let out a choked sob. “Lexa…”

“Please,” Lexa tried to convey as much as she could with her eyes, trying to tell her things that just couldn’t be said with words. The eye contact that they held at this present moment was so significant, so meaningful, that Lexa had to fight hard to not let a tear escape her eye. It was almost like a goodbye.

It probably will be. In what universe will Mr Griffin let her see his daughter again, after seeing her fucking his daughter?

Their moment was cut short with Mr Griffin taking advantage of Clarke letting her guard down and dragging her away. To Lexa’s relief, Clarke did not resist. She did not want to get the woman she loved into any more trouble.

“Stay here,” Mr Griffin growled as they reached the door.

 _It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere_ , Lexa thought wistfully as another wave of pain and nausea intruded her system. She really needed to throw up.

They shared one last meaningful look before Clarke disappeared around the corner, probably to be taken to another room and locked inside.

Lexa stared ahead of her, at the wall at the other side of the room when the door slammed shut. She was so doomed. Clarke wasn’t going to be there to protect her anymore, and when Mr Griffin comes back, she will have to face his wrath again.

She got this weird feeling, the feeling like when you’re caught red-handed, your brain runs around in maximum capacity and it starts to burn. Lexa didn’t really know how to describe it. On top of that, she regretted having had made a mess downstairs in the first place and not bothering to clean it up, as it was because of the mess that Mr Griffin even burst into the room in the first place. She also regretted being so careless, and now she was going to pay for the consequences. She was also incredibly anxious, and scared. It was like all the fear that she had put to the side a few minutes ago when it was overridden by adrenaline had come back in full force.

She was done for. There was no escape, he had seen it with his own eyes.

It wasn’t until Lexa bowed her head just wanting to crawl into a hole that she realised that her top was still not on. Hastily, she got up, but her legs started to burn with the effort. Nevertheless, she persevered and reached for the bedside drawer and fetched the shirt that was on top of the pile. It was Clarke’s, even better. It fit her perfectly, because they were about the same height and had similar builds, and it also had Clarke’s scent. Even if the blonde was not by her side physically, Clarke will always be with her, because all Lexa needed to do was hold the shirt up to her nose and take a deep inhale. It smelled like heaven.

The sound of the door opening harshly broke Lexa out of her thoughts. She didn’t dare turn her head, so she just stared onwards, trying to look as stoic as possible. But the truth was, she was scared out of her mind.

She felt her shoulders getting gripped harshly, and that was when she felt something click around her neck.

That was when Lexa instinctively looked to her right, and Mr Griffin’s blank expression was all she could see. He may not look angry from the outside, but Lexa knew a lot better than that. He was irate, if his trembling hands were any indication.

She realised that the thing that clicked on her neck was a collar. Most likely one that was able to electrocute her with the press of a button.

Lexa felt her breathing grow short and erratic with fear as different scenarios of why she would be collared rushed through her head, almost in slideshow fashion. Was she going to be tortured? She had not met anyone so evil as to torture a slave before, but experience taught her to not underestimate Mr Griffin.

Lexa prayed that that was not going to happen. The prospect of being electrocuted made her shudder.

Mr Griffin yanked her away by the collar on her neck and since Lexa did not want to choke or be strangled, she had no choice but to get up rapidly and start walking in the direction that Mr Griffin was leading her in. Her feet and legs hurt, but she forced them to keep moving, much to their protest. She didn’t know what was going to happen, but she didn’t question it because she didn’t want to be punished for speaking out of line.

Being led around the house made her feel like a dog. She had nearly forgotten that she was a slave by law; Clarke had done a good job convincing her otherwise.

Clarke. Was she alright? Lexa prayed that Mr Griffin did not do anything to her. She would do anything to make sure that Clarke was safe, but she couldn’t do anything right now that would work, so all she could do was pray. Hope that Clarke would be alright, whatever happens next.

It wasn’t until a gush of cold air whipping Lexa across the face that she realised the front door was open and she was now facing the outside world. And soon, Mr Griffin was dragging her across the front lawn through the gravel and towards the car.

Was he going to dump her a few blocks down, like he did with Echo? If that was the case, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. Of course, she would be starving, she would have nowhere to stay, but that was a problem for another time. Right now, she just wanted to get away from Mr Griffin, as far away as possible. If she gets dumped she’ll probably sleep on the streets, it shouldn’t be that cold at night. Maybe she could go into a shop and hide there, riding out the nights, she didn’t know. She’ll figure it out, just like she was sure Echo did.

Mr Griffin opened the door to his car. “In,” he commanded, voice unwavering and harsh.

Lexa wasn’t restrained anywhere, so technically she could run, but then she remembered she still had the collar around her neck. Maybe that was why Mr Griffin didn’t need to restrain her under fear of her escaping, because if she set one foot in the wrong direction she would get fried. The neck is where there are sensitive nerves and arteries that Lexa knew better than to risk damaging. If she got electrocuted once, she could also damage her spine which would paralyse everywhere but her head. No, thank you.

Therefore, as soon as the door was open and the command word was uttered, Lexa walked straight into the car obediently. Even Mr Griffin seemed surprised by how eager the brunette seemed, but he didn’t comment on it and instead he slammed the door shut.

It was a little bit like slamming the door shut to all of Lexa’s hopes and dreams.

The car soon started, and the sound of gravel under the tyres could be heard as it was set in motion.

As they made it out of the gates, Lexa cast one last look back at the Griffin Estate. She had a feeling that she will never set foot in that place again, after what had happened earlier, so she allowed herself to lose herself in the blissful memories that this place had brought her over the last couple of months. The place reminded her of nothing but Clarke, who seemed to be an angel sent down from above. The most significant place in the Estate was of course Clarke’s bedroom, where so many memorable things happened. It was where Lexa first met Clarke. It was where she learned how to read and write, it was where she danced in the moonlight with Clarke. It was where Lexa had her first real kiss, the first time she found anything but resentment for the world. She found love. It was the place where she first made love with someone special.

Lexa felt her back stick tighter to the seat as the car started to speed up. Mr Griffin was completely silent, probably driving faster than the speed limit. She had no idea where they were going, but with every mile that the car went, the less likely it seemed that she was going to set foot in the Griffin Estate ever again.

Did he really take Echo this far? What if she got dropped outside the city, in a field in the middle of nowhere? Lexa had no idea if she would be able to survive that.

The sky was grey. It was still mid-morning, not quite yet lunchtime, but the sky was darker than usual. Maybe it was because of the slightly tinted windows of the car, but the sky was still riddled with rainclouds. Talk about pathetic fallacy. The weather could not reflect Lexa’s mood more: sombre, anxious. Not quite yet hopeless, but it was getting close.

Lexa did not know how much time had passed when suddenly she spotted something familiar. It was a really tall tree off the side of the road that had a truncated branch. It probably got cut off because it was going into the road, and even though there were quite a few trees that looked similar to that one, Lexa was sure that this tree was _the_ one. It made her confused, why did she recognise that tree? She couldn’t seem to connect the dots.

After about 15 minutes, Lexa spotted more familiar things, and it wasn’t until the car took a left turn into the car park of a place that Lexa realised where she was. This is the 7th time that she had been here.

She was at the market.

***

The process was arduous and long, just like before. All the ratings, the descriptions, reasons, all those documents and contracts that Mr Griffin couldn’t seem to be bothered to sign.

When he was enquired about the rating, he just gave Lexa a long hard look, eventually settling with “60”.

Initially, this confused Lexa: normally masters gave high ratings to the slaves that they wanted to sell so that they were worth more. But then it occurred to Lexa that Mr Griffin just wanted to get her sold, he didn’t care how much. After all, he just dumps slaves, money was clearly not a problem for him. Why she was getting sold instead of getting dumped however, Lexa had no idea.

Mr Griffin signed the paper and then took the collar off Lexa’s neck. As soon as it was off, Lexa instantly sighed in relief. She did not get electrocuted, she was going to keep the mobility of her arms and legs.

“You be good now,” Mr Griffin growled. “You do what they say, you hear me?”

Lexa nodded; she did not want to get into any trouble.

Mr Griffin looked at Lexa one last time, before he shook his head and turned around, stalking towards the exit. Normally masters stayed to find out how much they sold their slave for, but Lexa guessed that he either didn’t care or couldn’t bear to look at Lexa a second longer. It was probably the latter. It wasn’t like he’s not going to get his money anyway, he filled in his bank details in the forms so he’ll just get a bank transfer.

And then a dark-skinned lady grabbed Lexa’s arm and started to lead her down the familiar corridor to the room where all the slaves would be kept until the daily auction started, which would be at 1 in the afternoon. If Lexa had to guess, it was currently 11:30, meaning that there was still about another hour or so for her to wallow in her misery before she got sold.

Things were just going to be the same again. Her next master will not be like Clarke, he or she will just be like the old ones, abusing her to no end. Maybe she’ll get lucky and get a master like her second one and she’ll not get raped, but luck was not normally on her side. But then she did manage to come across Clarke, so maybe she did have a little bit of luck after all. It was fun while it lasted.

Lexa tried her best to not cry as she was led through the labyrinth of the place. People were already starting to gather in the audience early so that they could get a look at the slaves and decide who they want before the actual auction started. The lady who was leading her seemed to be nice enough, at least she wasn’t being hit to keep up with her or anything. Lexa had never seen her before: she must be new.

And soon, she was thrown into the familiar room where all the slaves were kept before they were sold. It looked just the same, it smelled the same, it brought back so many horrible memories that had been buried by Clarke that Lexa just couldn’t help but let a tear trail down her cheek. She won’t be allowed to cry when she was sold to her new master if she doesn’t want to be beaten anyway, so she might as well do it now.

But then a curtain of brown hair caught her eyes. It was at the corner of the room, and the person had her back facing Lexa.

No way.

Curiously, Lexa stepped forward and tapped the girl’s shoulders.

“What do you want?” the girl snapped, turning around, but her mocha eyes widened with shock and disbelief when they saw who was standing in front of them.

“Echo?” Lexa gasped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, a few words mean more than you think to me ❤️


	14. Circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post this on Sunday, but then the response to the last chapter was just so good that I was really motivated.  
> Thank you so much guys, and I hope you enjoy!

Lexa remembered how when she was little her mother had surprised with a small birthday cake. She was around 7 then, and since this was the first time that she had been treated with a birthday cake, she had been really happy. She remembered eating it, savouring the sweetness on the taste buds, licking it clean when she had finished. She didn’t even think to give her mother a single bite, but Tabitha didn’t seem to mind. She just watched a little Lexa swallow bite after bite of sweet sponge cake. She watched how Lexa separated the icing from the cake and ate it separately, because the icing was sweeter and Lexa really liked it. This was probably the first surprise that Lexa had in her life, and probably one of the only pleasant ones. The other surprises that she had were less than present, for example when she realised that she was going to the market for the first time. That had been a nasty surprise. Also when she got hit for the first time. That had also been a bad surprise.

But this? This was a good surprise. Lexa had come into the room feeling down and remorseful, and now seeing what she considered a long-lost friend had given her hope.

Echo’s expression said so much. Shock was the most prominent of them, but it also showed happiness and perhaps excitement.

“Lexa?” Echo could barely contain herself. “Is that really you?”

“Yes,” Lexa felt a surge of emotions wash over her. Was it relief? She had no idea. Her emotions were so heightened, that she was a little confused.

Echo’s lips cracked into a huge beam, and the younger brunette surged forward, engulfing Lexa in a tight hug. “I can’t believe it,” Echo mumbled into Lexa’s shoulder.

“Me neither,” Lexa sighed, and eventually the two girls got out of their embrace.

Suddenly Lexa had an idea. “Echo?”

Echo wiped at her eyes with a finger. It looked suspiciously like her wiping away a stray tear, but Lexa didn’t question that. Echo was going to deny it anyway, she could be incredibly stubborn so there wasn’t really much point in asking.

“Yeah?” Echo said.

“Do you think that we can get out of here?” Lexa asked.

“Of course,” Echo replied, offhand. “There isn’t really any point though. We’ll just get caught and sent back here.”

“No we won’t,” Lexa insisted. “If we get out of here, we can just lay low and they won’t find us. We can be free.”

“We won’t be free,” Echo said darkly. “The truth is, and I’ve come to accept it over the past week, is that we will be slaves for life. If we get recognised, we will just get sent back here. And what, do you really want to stay in hiding forever? I don’t want to, that’s for sure. Living life in hiding is literally us being fugitives. There is no good way out of this.”

“Yes there is!” Lexa hissed. “Look, Clarke will help us. We can escape, you’re stealthy and I can cause a distraction. When we’re out of here, we can run into the woods. I’ve been here 7 times already, I know this place better than anyone. We can hide in the woods until we aren’t being searched for, and then we can go back to the Griffin Estate and Clarke can help us.”

“Going back to the Griffin Estate?” Echo scoffed. “I’m sorry, my friend, but that is suicide. Jake will see us and we will be toast.”

“Clarke will protect us, I promise! Come on, don’t you think that this is worth a shot? Isn’t this better than being sold?” Lexa pled.

“Why do you have so much faith in Clarke? You two fall in love or something?” Echo half-joked.

Lexa blushed and there was silence for a while.

“Shit,” Echo’s jaw slackened in realisation and perhaps horror? “Are you for real? Are you stupid?”

“I can’t help it,” Lexa mumbled. “It kind of just… happened.”

“Okay, never mind that for now,” Echo shook her head. “Look, I hate to break it to you, but your plan is not going to work. First, it is going to take us _forever_ to get back to the Griffin Estate. Plus, if we get there, you realise that it is close to the city centre, right? There’s no way that no one will see us. Also, you don’t know how hard it is out there. I didn’t either, I was naïve, and I learnt it the hard way. Don’t make me go through that again.”

“You won’t be by yourself,” Lexa insisted. “You’ll have me. Come on, we can literally leave now!”

“No,” Echo shook her head, sighing. She lowered herself to the floor, sitting down against the wall. “It’s no use.”

“Why?” Lexa demanded, starting to get irritated. This was their prime chance! They could get away, just the two of them, and escape the tormenting life of a slave!

“Because, if we leave, all these other people here,” Echo waved her hand in a wide arc to gesture everyone else that was in the room. “Will want to leave too. They will do anything to get out of here, believe me. And, you don’t know what happened during the two weeks that I was out there, alone. You have no idea what I went through.”

“Then tell me!” Lexa pled. “Look, I get that you may not want to try escaping, but is getting raped what you want? Because I can almost guarantee you that is what going to happen when you get sold to your new master. So don’t you think that it is worth at least a shot?”

“It is only a matter of time,” Echo pursed her lips. “We will always be a slave, Lexa, I’ve accepted it. So us escaping will not change anything. Please, come and sit next to me.”

“Echo,” Lexa sighed. “Why are you so stubborn?”

“Why are _you_ so stubborn?” Echo shot back. “Just come sit. We can talk, while we still have the chance.”

“Fine,” Lexa grumbled. She still didn’t get why Echo didn’t want to help her escape. She felt a little betrayed, even though she had no right to. Echo didn’t owe her anything, and besides something must have happened for her to be completely against this idea. What happened, though, Lexa didn’t know. “At least tell me what happened out there?” she said, sitting down next to the other brunette.

“Yeah,” Echo sighed. “Well first, what did Jake tell you when he got home?”

“Hmm,” Lexa racked her brains for what Mr Griffin told her. “He told me that he dropped you down a couple of blocks.”

“A couple of blocks?” Echo chuckled mirthlessly. “Hmm, I guess that could be right. If one block stood for 2 kilometres, sure.”

“He took you out 10 kilometres?” Lexa said incredulously.

“I don’t know, I was unconscious,” Echo said spitefully. “I woke up in an empty field in the middle of nowhere. The trees were all wilted, there was barely any grass, there was literally nothing.”

“That bastard,” Lexa gritted. “He was trying to kill you, wasn’t he?”

“Probably,” Echo shrugged. “Not that it matters anymore, I’m here and in the flesh, aren’t I?”

“Yes, and you don’t know how relieved I am for that,” Lexa said.

“Thanks, that means a lot,” Echo said flatly. “Anyway, there was literally no food, it was an empty field, there was no shelter. It rained, and it was so cold at night that I was surprised to find myself alive in the morning.”

“So… what happened next? Did you get hypothermia or something?” Lexa asked.

“No,” Echo said. “I got lucky. I started to walk around, trying to get anywhere other than barren grey land, and eventually I found some kind of woodland in the distance. I was so hungry, but I have learnt how to control my hunger ever since I was little, so I forced myself to walk the bit of distance to where the trees were. For the first few days, I refused to eat anything, but I don’t know what I was thinking. I couldn’t starve forever. So, I started to eat leaves that didn’t look disgusting at first, and when that wasn’t enough, I started to eat bugs. It was absolutely grim, but I had no choice.”

Lexa grimaced. “I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. So… what happened next?”

“Well, it had been like 4 days and I literally had no energy left. And then a white eel came. Not literally, but someone was driving around for whatever reason. I thought about ignoring it and staying in the woodland, but I couldn’t do it anymore. So I went to the middle of the road and got a lift.”

“A lift?” Lexa asked. “To where?”

“I didn’t have anywhere to go, so they took me directly to their house. They knew that I was a slave, judging by my appearance, so they just claimed me as their own. So, there I had my second master.”

“Is that why you’re here? So that you can be sold on?”

“Yes,” Echo nodded. “I didn’t get raped there, I was actually not in that bad a family. They had someone that was dying of cancer, they were on their deathbed and they just wanted someone to help him, because they couldn’t be asked to bring water or whatever to him every minute of every day. So I had to do that, it was more tedious than anything, really. At least I was fed, I guess. Then he died a week later and they decided that they did not need me anymore so they might as well get some money out of me. So they threw me here and gave me a rating of like 95 or something. They really want the money, don’t they? They’re still in the audience, I think. Well, enough about me,” Echo chuckled. “Why are _you_ here? I thought Clarke was your master.”

“She was,” Lexa sighed. “Mr Griffin caught us… you know. He got really angry and threw me here,” she admitted.

“Wait, you two were doing – uh, I don’t want that image in my head,” Echo shut her eyes. “He sent you straight to the market? He didn’t dump you out there like me?”

“No,” Lexa shook her head.

“Hmm, I guess that’s because he really doesn’t want you to see Clarke again. He probably thought that if you didn’t have any freedom in the first place you won’t be able to crawl your way back to them.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Lexa nodded. “You sure that you don’t want to escape? There is still time.”

“No, I’ve accepted my fate,” Echo said dejectedly. “It was nice knowing you, though. Thanks for all your help.”

Lexa debated whether or not to try and persuade her to try and make an escape again, but she figured that there wasn’t going to be any point. So instead, she said, “It was really nothing. Hope your next master treats you well.”

“You too,” Echo chuckled sadly. “Although that is incredibly unlikely, from what I have heard you say about your past masters.”

“Hope is a powerful thing, Echo,” Lexa said. “Without it, we are nothing. Have faith.”

As if on cue, a middle-aged man walked in with a briefcase in his hand.

“Who is that man?” Echo asked, looking at the man suspiciously. “He doesn’t look like a slave to me.”

“He isn’t,” Lexa agreed. “He’s the guy who gives us the injections.”

“Injections?” Echo said, a little fearfully. “What for?”

“It makes us drowsy, so that we don’t fight back when we’re sold. Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.”

Echo just looked ahead at the man, with an unreadable expression.

***

“Welcome to the auction!” Jaha’s voice cried and Lexa just rolled her eyes. She had just been drugged with depressants and she didn’t really have that much energy at all, but it didn’t stop her from holding contempt to those people who think that they are superior and have the right to sell slaves. Slaves are people, after all. But there was nothing that Lexa could do about it.

“Here we go again,” she sighed. “Might as well watch it, because it’s your first time, right?”

Echo, who was behind her in the queue to be sold, nodded. “What is it like?” she said, a bit groggily.

“You’ll see,” Lexa said. “It’s probably easier for you to watch it for yourself than me trying to explain it to you.”

“Fair enough,” Echo mumbled and they fell quiet again.

Lexa didn’t really pay attention to what was going on as the queue in front of them started to thin, as she had been through this process so many times that it was almost boring.

About a quarter of an hour later, Lexa was now near the front, and she could hear the person two places in front of her getting sold for 5 grand.

“Best of luck, Lexa,” Echo mumbled, voice a bit shaky. Maybe the fear had caught up to her. Lexa could understand. The first time she was displayed like a prized possession on the stage, she had been scared out of her mind too.

“You’re scared, aren’t you,” Lexa noted.

Echo side-eyed Lexa. “No…” she said slowly.

“You are,” Lexa said. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. We really should’ve escaped while we had the chance. I still don’t get why you weren’t willing to.”

“Because this is just going to happen again,” Echo mumbled. “Hopefully whoever I get sold to is nice enough to give me food. I guess that’s all I can ask for.”

Lexa simply nodded gravely as the young boy in front of her got sold for 3 grand. “My turn now, Echo. It was nice knowing you,” she mumbled. She had no energy to cry, and even if she did she wouldn’t anyway, because she was stronger than that. She didn’t want to cry because she was going to be sold to some abusive jerk and her life would be over, no, she wanted to cry because she doubted that she would see Clarke ever again.

She never told Clarke that she loved her. And now she will never get the chance.

“And up here, is a pleasant eighteen-year-old brunette, with a P rating of…” the black man squinted at the paper. “Sixty-five? That’s got to be wrong. Well anyway, starting price of one grand.”

And nearly every paddle in the room rose up. Lexa was surprised, she had a pretty low rating, meaning that she wouldn’t be sold for that much.

“Two grand,” Jaha continued to drawl. “Three grand. Four grand.” With each offer, some paddles went down, but there was still about a dozen up.

“Five grand,” he called and seven paddles went down, leaving five left. Lexa couldn’t really see the people’s faces, because her vision was a bit blurry, but she could still see the neon paddles, clear as day.

“Five and a half grand,” he called and now there were only three paddles.

“Six grand.” Still three paddles.

“Seven grand.” Two paddles went down, and there was only one remaining.

“Going once, going twice, sold! Congratulations, Mr Woods!” Jaha announced and there was some applause among the audience.

Mr Woods? Lexa had never heard of that name before, so she didn’t know whether that was good or bad. All she knew was that she was being guided off the stage now, and towards her new master, where her fate would be sealed.

She would never see Clarke again.

“Over here, we have a sixteen-year-old brunette, P rating of eighty-five. Starting price at fifteen hundred dollars.” Lexa could faintly hear Jaha’s voice as he started to list out the prices. This was when she realised that it was Echo that was on the stage now. She prayed that Echo went to a good family, even though that was quite unlikely.

Mr Woods came to collect her when she was escorted to the aisle, and that was when she first saw the man. He had fair hair, although there were signs of balding, and he had dark brown eyes and a kind face. However, Lexa took this with apprehension, because first impressions don’t tend to be representative of the man’s true nature. This man, despite looking gentlemanly and kind, could be just as bad as her previous masters.

“Come,” he said, holding out his hand. Lexa didn’t want to set off on the wrong foot with her new master, so she begrudgingly took his surprisingly warm hand and let herself be lead through the aisles and through the audience. “I have some good news for you,” he smiled and Lexa frowned slightly. Normally when masters said that they had good news, it was nearly always not good.

Lexa, however, did not dare to voice her doubts. She had to remember to stay in line. This was not Clarke, and she had to remember that.

“Come on!” he chastised when Lexa fell a little behind. Lexa quickly caught up and instead of gripping her hand, Mr Woods decided to hook his arm with hers instead. “I have really good news for you,” he said again, looking down to meet Lexa with a warm smile.

She didn’t know if she should be happy or disturbed.

But when he led her to her destination, to where he was sitting instead of outside where his car would be, Lexa saw a person sat next to an empty seat where Mr Woods must have sat before that made her heart stop. When the woman saw that Mr Woods had returned, she stood up from her seat and spread her arms, looking like she was on the verge of tears. “L-Lex…”

No fucking way.

“M-Mum?” Lexa choked.


	15. Salvation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The support for this story has been insane! You guys got me so motivated so here's another update for you :)

Despite her system being riddled by depressants, Lexa felt her adrenaline levels start to build up again, her breathing starting to get fast and rapid, her heartbeat increasing in pace. Her gaze stayed fixed on the deep emerald ones that looked so much like hers, but so much older, so much wiser. She looked at the contours on the woman’s face – even though it had only been four years since Lexa last saw her, it felt like an eternity. She noticed how to worry lines on her mother’s face had disappeared, and her skin looked a lot smoother and the constant anxiety that was on her mother’s face had gone. She looked completely at ease.

On top of all of Lexa’s awe however, she was confused. How was this possible? Why was her mother in the slave market, and not being put up for sale? Was she going to be on sale in the auction soon? What?

“Lexa,” Tabitha stepped forward and placed a warm hand on Lexa’s cheek. Her fingers were trembling a little bit. “It’s really you,” she breathed, expression saying nothing but wonder and love. “Look at you, baby, you’re so beautiful now, all grown up.”

“M-Mum,” Lexa let a tear come out of her eye. “I-I don’t understand, how is this possible?”

“I’ll explain later,” Tabitha smiled softly. “You don’t know how many times I’ve been here, just wanting to catch sight of you.”

When Tabitha turned her head to look at the stage, Lexa suddenly jolted with the realisation that Echo was still being sold. Jaha was still listing out the prices, and right now it was at four grand, and there were still quite a lot of competitors.

“How do you know Mr Woods?” Lexa asked, turning to her mother again.

“Him?” Tabitha’s expression changed slightly to one of ease and love. “He is my husband.”

“Y-Your husband?” Lexa choked. “I don’t – what?”

“I’ll explain later,” Tabitha promised. “What about him?”

“Oh,” Lexa fidgeted with her fingers a little bit. “Um, don’t worry, he seems pretty nice.”

“He is,” Tabitha said dreamily, and that was when Lexa turned her head back to the stage, seeing Echo still up there on the stage. She didn’t know how it was possible to look frustrated, annoyed and scared all at the same time, but Echo was doing just that.

Lexa prayed that Echo was going to go to a good family. Even though she wasn’t as close to the fiery brunette as Clarke in more ways than one, she knew that she was still going to miss her. She knew that there would be days where she’ll be concerned about her safety, wondering whether or not her new master would treat her well.

Then an idea struck her. Mr Woods just bought her, right? Did that mean that he was rich? Did that mean that he could cash out on one more slave?

But then Lexa shouldn’t push her luck. She was lucky enough to be bought by a good master. Mr Woods was a man that she didn’t know, so she shouldn’t request him to buy Echo as well.

With that in mind, Lexa let her shoulders sag slightly as she continued to watch Echo, helpless on the stage.

“Do you know that girl?” a voice suddenly appeared to her left, and Lexa jumped. When she looked over, she saw that it was only Mr Woods, and she let her guard down slightly, but was still cautious.

“W-Who?” Lexa asked.

Mr Woods nodded to the general direction of the stage. “The one on the stage,” he replied. “I don’t know, you were just staring at her as if you were worried or in deep thought.”

“Well,” Lexa drawled, feeling her heart start to accelerate as she started to feel nervous. “Yes, I do. She’s the one that lived in the same estate as me the past few months, she’s my friend.” Her voice trailed off slightly in the end.

“Hmm,” Mr Woods frowned slightly. “She looks really young,” he said.

“Yeah, she’s two years younger than me,” Lexa said. “Um,” she started to fumble, unsure whether to push her luck or not.

“Do you want me to buy her too?” Mr Woods asked, as if reading her thoughts.

Lexa looked up in surprise. “H-How did you – um, well, if it really isn’t any trouble –”

“Your expression kind of said it all,” Mr Woods gave a small smile. “It’s okay, I can afford another one… hopefully…”

“Thank you so much,” Lexa gushed, feeling a rush of extreme gratefulness through her system. Maybe, Echo would be kept safe now. Hopefully, her going price is not that high. “Mr Woods, you don’t know how much that means to me.”

“It’s no biggie,” Mr Woods shrugged. “And please, call me Jamie.”

Jaha called out the next price, which was five grand. Mr Woods retrieved his paddle which was set down next to him and raised it.

There were still four people who were bidding for Echo, and Lexa feared that the price would get high enough that Mr Woods wouldn’t want to cash in so much money on someone that he didn’t necessarily need. Lexa wondered what she was going to do now that she had been bought by her mother’s family. It had been an incredible stroke of luck, but she wondered if she was still going to do chores. She was still a slave, after all.

Which brought her to this. Her mother was still a slave, right? So how was she able to get married to a non-slave and come here, to buy slaves off the market? How was this even possible?

“Going once, going twice, sold! Congratulations, Mr Woods, again!” More applause resonated across the whole place.

“You got her?” Lexa asked in awe.

Mr Woods nodded. “Yep.”

“F-For how much?” Lexa asked, feeling nerves start to bubble in her blood again.

“That doesn’t matter,” he replied.

Lexa didn’t really want to push the matter. “You don’t know how much that means to me,” Lexa said, feeling a tear collect in her eye. “Thank you so much, Mr Woods.”

“Jamie,” he reminded.

“Jamie,” Lexa corrected herself. “Thank you.”

Mr Woods simply smiled again and left for the stage to collect Echo.

When Mr Woods was gone, Lexa turned to her mother, who was seemingly watching the whole exchange between her and Mr Woods. “I still don’t understand, how are you allowed to marry a non-slave? I thought that it was forbidden.”

Tabitha smiled. “I’m also a non-slave now,” she said.

Lexa was taken aback. “What? H-How?”

“You know how I served my master for over twenty years? He decided that he was going to free me instead of killing me. He said that he didn’t think that he would be able to live with the guilt, and he didn’t want to sell me because he didn’t think that he would make much from it. So he said that he was going to free me, allow me to live the rest of my life in peace, away from the torture that comes with being a slave.”

“But… how does that work? Echo got freed, yet she got caught and sent back to the market,” Lexa said.

“Echo, the girl on the stage?” Tabitha asked, and Lexa nodded. “Well, my old master signed some documents that meant that I was no longer legally bound to be a slave. So I have an ID now, so I am now allowed to buy slaves.”

“Wow…” Lexa said, surprised but also impressed. “W-What about Mr Woods?”

“Well,” Tabitha’s lips rose into a smile just at the thought of him. “I was released two years ago, and since I didn’t really have anywhere to go, this man found me and took care of me. We just fell in love along the way, and the rest is history, I guess. He is so amazing.”

“So much has changed over the past four years,” Lexa breathed.

“That’s right,” Tabitha smiled. “I still can’t believe that I found you. You’re so pretty, all grown up, Lex. I hope that the past few years haven’t been too hard on you, I prayed every night for your safety, you know.”

“Well, your prayers have been answered,” Lexa smiled softly. “I managed to find a very special someone too,” she said.

Tabitha side-eyed her daughter. “Really? Who is he?”

“It’s a she, actually,” Lexa chuckled when Tabitha’s eyes widened. It wasn’t in judgement, but simply in surprise. “Her name’s Clarke. She was my master until this morning.”

“Don’t tell me you fell in love with your master,” Tabitha said exasperatedly. “It will never end well.”

“It didn’t,” Lexa sighed when she recalled the memory of Mr Griffin bursting into their room. “She’s amazing, though. She doesn’t believe in the slave trade, she fights for our rights, she is genuinely the best person I’ve met. It’s a shame that I don’t think that I will ever be able to see her again,” Lexa mumbled, casting her eyes down.

“Hey,” Tabitha put a finger under Lexa’s chin, lifting her head up so that their eyes were now meeting. “We’ll find her, okay? You know where she lives, right?” Lexa nodded. “We’ll go there, and we can look for her, I promise.”

The sound of Echo’s voice broke them out of their bubble.

“Let go of me, you womanizer!” Echo grunted as she and Mr Woods appeared.

“Echo!” Lexa called, rushing forward to calm the brunette. “You’re fine, they’re good people! Don’t fight them!”

Mr Woods simply shook his head as he walked by Lexa and made his way to Tabitha, leaving the two girls alone.

Echo shook her head. “You said that there were no good people out there!” she said vehemently.

“Trust me, these people are good,” Lexa said. “I got him to buy you.”

“Huh?” Echo said, bewildered.

“Look there, that’s my mum,” Lexa said, pointing to where Tabitha was sat. “These are good people, I promise.”

“Y-Your mum?” Echo parroted, sounding confused. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a bit of a miracle, really. I’ll tell you more later.”

“Girls?” Mr Woods’ voice called over Jaha’s still droning voice, listing prices. “That’s it, right? Let’s go home now, shall we?”

***

The car ride home was unlike any other Lexa had experienced. Truth was, she had not been in any car rides except for to and from the market. Actually, she had not been outside her master’s house at all in her life, except for of course the car rides to and from the slave market, and the trips that she and Clarke had made to the night market and the shops over the past few months. These fun trips were far and few in between however, as Mr Griffin was rarely out for more than six hours and they did not want to risk him coming home early to find an empty house and that would be quite bad. Echo had actually tagged along once, and Lexa had a feeling that Echo enjoyed it even more than Lexa had the first time round. Probably because Echo had a thing for French food or something. Lexa would watch in disgust as Echo would swallow snail after snail, or the posh way they say it, ‘escargots’.

While Lexa was ecstatic that she had been bought by a good master (oh who was she kidding, this was the best possible outcome for her. She found her mother again!), she was still a little sad at the prospect of Clarke. What was Clarke doing right now? How would she react when she found out that Lexa had gone? Would she think that Lexa got thrown out into the wild just like Echo did? How would she react?

And there was of course the possibility that Lexa would never see Clarke again. She was going to see her again, right? Her mother would surely let her go back to the Griffin Estate and find Clarke. Although what she would do when she found her, she had no idea. Because Mr Griffin will most definitely do anything to stop them from interacting, and… it hurt Lexa’s head to think of all the possibilities. There was still the problem of her being a slave, but apparently that can be fixed, as her mother was no longer a slave. Would Mr Woods free them? Would he be willing?

This was the first time that Lexa felt anything other than hatred for her biological father. He must have had some heart in him to free his long-serving slave. Yes, he was really abusive, but at least he let Tabitha live to see her daughter again.

The car journey was serene. The side window was open slightly, letting a little bit of wind come inside, which ventilated the insides of the car well so it was quite comfortable. With that, Lexa started to close her eyes and let herself relax.

“Let me see that,” Echo said after a while, making Lexa jolt. Echo was sitting next to her at the back of the car, and she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt.

“You should probably strap that on,” Lexa croaked gesturing to the seatbelt that hung limply on her side.

“Strap that on?” Echo smirked. “Wanky.”

“Oh, stop that,” Lexa rolled her eyes. “Just put it on.”

Echo did as Lexa said, and then she leaned forward slightly. “You’re hurt,” she said.

“I’m fine,” Lexa insisted, covering her left cheek with her hand and away from view.

“No you’re not,” Echo said, taking Lexa’s hand off her cheek. Lexa didn’t know how her cheek looked, but judging by the constant dull pain that it was in it probably looked quite bad. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen you battered and bruised before,” she noted.

“Clarke treats me well,” Lexa replied. “And, yes you have. When I first turned up.”

“Hmm, I guess yeah,” Echo shrugged. “If I have to be honest, I really hated you.”

“Why?” Lexa said, exaggerating hurt by putting both hands on her heart. “What’s wrong with me?”

“I told you before, I was really jealous,” Echo shrugged again. “You got the good master. I got the bad one. But it all worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

“I guess it did,” Lexa said.

“Well, we need to put ice on that when we have some,” Echo said. Then she poked Lexa’s stomach, which evoked a yelp from the older brunette. “Yep, and we need more ice for your stomach.”

***

Lexa was walking down the desolate street. It didn’t take her as long as before to realise that this was the street that had the night market when all the stalls were set up. It was a little windy, and the sky was a dark purple colour.

 _That’s a weird colour for a sky_ , Lexa thought as she started to walk down the pavement, allowing the bitter wind to whip her face.

She had been walking for a short period of time before she realised that there was a person lying face down on the other side of the street. This person had long blonde hair, and a body shape that Lexa had come to know so well.

“Clarke,” Lexa whispered, letting her legs break out into a full fast run towards the blonde. Within no time, she was by her side. She shook Clarke’s shoulders vigorously. “Clarke, what’s wrong? Wake up!”

When Clarke showed no signs of waking up, Lexa decided to flip the blonde over, because it must be uncomfortable to have your face glued to the dirty ground. But when her hands started to make a rotating action, trying to flip her body over, it suddenly started to move of its own accord.

Clarke sat up, back facing Lexa.

“Clarke?” Lexa said tentatively, poking the blonde’s shoulder with a finger.

Her head turned around, but it was not her face on the other side.

“Surprise,” Jake smirked.

Lexa jumped so hard that her head hit the top of the car. She rubbed the slightly painful area, and then started to wipe at her eyes to get rid of the residue of sleep. What the hell was that dream? Was it trying to say some kind of message to her? She kind of missed the days when she didn’t have dreams. She didn’t think that she has ever had a good dream before, and if she did it was so long ago it would’ve been already forgotten. A good dream would probably be like… a date with Clarke in a fancy restaurant with candles. They had never done that before, because they never had the chance to. Maybe in the future they would be able to, provided that Lexa found Clarke again, and if not, perhaps in an alternate universe. Lexa believed in them, because if the only world in the universe was one that was led under a dictatorship with the slave trade being legal, then God was more messed up that she thought.

“You good there?” Echo said worriedly. “Bad dream?”

“Yeah, you can say that,” Lexa sighed, blinking a few times to clear the haze around her vision.

“Well, you woke up just in time,” Echo smiled. “I think that we’re here.”

Echo was right. As the car turned into a smaller road, Lexa could see a nice neighbourhood filled with semi-detached brick houses. She assumed that her mother lived in one of them. It obviously wasn’t anything like the places that she stayed in before, because all her previous masters were pretty wealthy and could afford much bigger property, but this place looked quite nice, nonetheless. It was peaceful and cosy, as well as modest.

If Lexa was going to be honest, she no longer knew how to act around her mother anymore. She had matured so much over the past 4 years. Before she became a slave for other masters she found herself to be quite needy and clingy, but now she couldn’t see herself being like that.

This may be a good thing, however. This meant that she was now an adult, both mentally and physically.

When the car finally stopped, Tabitha looked back from the passenger seat and smiled at the girls in the back seat. “We’re here.”

The house looked just like the others, and when Lexa set foot into it for the first time, she wasn’t disappointed. Even though the place wasn’t really large, the organisation and the sheer tidiness of the place made it seem really big and comfortable.

“Is this where we’re staying?” Lexa turned and asked her mother.

Tabitha nodded.

“Look, I know that I shouldn’t be asking this when I just got bought, but we really need to find Clarke. She’s going to be so worried about me,” Lexa said.

“We will,” Tabitha reassured. “But first, we need to get you and Echo freed. And before that, we need to put ice on your face,” her face scrunched up slightly in worry. “That looks really painful, Lex.”

“It’s fine,” Lexa insisted. “Wait… did you just say freed?”

“Yes,” Tabitha said. “You two are no longer going to be slaves. Now let me patch you up.”

“Okay,” Lexa sighed.

“I’ll go get some ice,” Tabitha informed. “Just sit down and I’ll be back soon, okay?”

Lexa nodded and Tabitha started to make her way out, but before she could get far, Lexa spoke up again.

“Mum?” she called.

Tabitha turned around. “Yes?” she said.

“Just… thank you,” Lexa said quietly.

Her mother simply smiled, giving a small nod and left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of shameless self-promotion, I have uploaded a new Clexa one-shot called The Fourth Floor, so it would be amazing if you could check it out and tell me what you thought!  
> I hope you enjoyed!


	16. Gone

It had been two weeks since Lexa got sold to the Woods. And every single day of that fortnight, she had been restless. She really wanted to go out and find Clarke, but her mother kept on reminding her that Clarke wasn’t going to go anywhere, that they could afford to wait while she got their freeing papers sorted.

The thing was, her mother did not know Clarke at all. Lexa had a feeling that if she didn’t set out to find Clarke soon, Clarke would set out to find _her_ instead. She had no idea if Clarke would succeed or not, because Mr Griffin would probably tell her that she got dumped in the wilderness and Clarke would be looking in the wrong place. Plus, even if Clarke knew that she had been sold to a man named Jamie Woods, and that was a big if, how would Clarke find her? It wasn’t exactly an uncommon name.

In addition, knowing Clarke, she probably would not rest until she found Lexa. Meaning that she will probably not go back to the Griffin Estate after she left and then Lexa would be trying to find Clarke while Clarke was trying to find Lexa. The city was really big; there was no way that they would run into each other any time soon, right? What are the odds?

Which was why when her mother had finally come home with the documents that were needed to free them legally, Lexa had dashed downstairs to get them signed. As soon as she and Echo had put their signatures and Mr Woods put his signature as well, Lexa urged them to get them sent as soon as possible. Because as soon as she was not a slave, she would be allowed to go anywhere without her master’s consent and that’s when she will be safe outside by herself.

She didn’t want to seem ungrateful about the whole thing, she was still ecstatic about not having to live her life as a slave anymore, but all that happiness is blurred by the thought of a certain blonde that she fell in love with. She found herself being emotionally attached to her, almost like an addiction, a drug that she could not rid herself off. Not that she wanted to be rid of that addiction, though, that was the main difference.

Echo, on the other hand, could not be happier. Lexa could swear that the young brunette was crying of happiness when she saw Mr Woods sign his signature on her form, and when she confronted her about it later, Echo had simply said with a scowl, “Not a word of this to anyone.”

Lexa was also starting to settle in to her new home. It was a three-bedroom house with two bathrooms, and Lexa had her own room. It was of a similar size to the one she had in the basement in the Griffin Estate, except it was a lot more personalised, as her mother had bought all sorts of wallpapers and decorations that she forced Lexa to choose from a catalogue. Lexa didn’t really care about her bedroom, Clarke was more important, so she had simply flipped through it rapidly and picked out the things that she thought looked nice without a second thought.

Mr Woods, as it turned out, was actually not that rich at all. If Lexa had to say, he belonged to the middle-upper class, he had a nice job as a car engineer, so he was not making as much as those super wealthy people that Lexa had encountered before, all of whom were likely to be self-employed. This made Lexa feel a little bad – he must have spent a lot of his savings buying two slaves that would no longer be slaves. It only made her realise how much he loved her mother, and Lexa was really happy for them, as her mother really deserved the stroke of luck she got after the twenty-odd years of torture she most likely went through.

The documents took time to process. It had been nearly a week since the signatures, and Lexa had nearly been driving herself crazy over the past few days with anticipation. She knew that this was unlike herself, to be this fidgety and anxious and bad-tempered, but she couldn’t help it. She was worried that Clarke would do something impulsive and not be at the Griffin Estate anymore. If that was the case, then Clarke was the one in danger. She was quite naïve before Lexa came to the Griffin Estate, and Lexa had no idea how Clarke would survive in the outside world, if she left that is. She had little to no experience, and it made Lexa nervous.

This was why when her mother finally came home with the good news that their documents have been approved and they were no longer slaves, Lexa had jumped right off her bed and hugged her mother, followed by Mr Woods, saying words of extreme gratefulness. Then she had said that they should set off to find Clarke straight away, but her mother refused, saying that it was already quite late and it wasn’t like Clarke would run away during the night, so it should be fine for them to leave in the early morning the next day. Lexa had considered this, but then she realised that it probably wasn’t safe for them to be driving around late at night so she acquiesced to her mother’s proposition.

So instead of driving during the night, Mr Woods had proposed that they had a bit of a celebration that night, celebrating their freedom. Echo enjoyed the makeshift party very much, and Lexa would’ve too, if her mind wasn’t on a certain person the whole time. Nevertheless, she had a taste of wine for the first time, and initially she spat it out, claiming that it was disgusting, but after a few coaxes from Echo who was already a little tipsy, Lexa begrudgingly drank a little more and found it tolerable.

Now Lexa was in the car with her mother driving, headed towards the Griffin Estate. Lexa had been surprised at first that her mother was able to drive, but then Tabitha had just said that she learnt how to over the past few years. Mr Woods didn’t come along because he had to go to work, and Echo didn't come along either because she got herself addicted to a video game that Mr Woods owned and now she is killing in-game people left, right and centre. Lexa had remembered how she saw Echo bashing a dying man’s head repeatedly against a wall in a slow rhythm, and when she had asked what the young brunette was doing, Echo simply replied, “I’m imagining that this man is Jake.” Lexa had been pretty disturbed by this, so she left without questioning anything more. She didn’t really mind Echo not tagging along, really. She felt that it would probably be easier if she made it to the Griffin Estate herself, and her mother would be there for… moral support?

She didn’t have a plan, however. What would she do when she got there? Demand to speak to Clarke? And what if she did get to speak to Clarke again? Would she arrange for them to meet in town so that they could see each other more often? Did that mean that they could date in public now, since their relationship was no longer forbidden? The idea of eating some medium-rare steak with Clarke in a low-lit, expensive restaurant made her heart all warm and fuzzy.

Plans never last long, however.

“Lex, you’re going to have to give tell me where this house is,” Tabitha said as they started to make it to the highway.

“I don’t know for sure,” Lexa said, biting her lip. “I’ll tell you if we pass something familiar, and then I will know where to go.”

“Look, that’s not a good plan,” Tabitha sighed. “Do you think that you will be able to recognise the house by sight?”

“Yes, definitely,” Lexa said, nodding.

“Well, take this,” Tabitha said, handing Lexa a black device. “Go onto maps, and go onto satellite. See if you can recognise anything there.” With that, the older woman turned her attention back on the road.

“Um,” Lexa flipped the device in her hands idly. “I don’t know how to use this,” she said, gesturing to the mobile phone in her hands.

“Just press the power button and swipe right, it should unlock, then press the icon that is labelled maps. It should be pretty straightforward from there.”

“Okay…” Lexa tapped at the device a few times and the screen came up. She had seen this being used sometimes, but she had never used it herself. Clarke had a device that looked like this too, but she barely went on it. She said that it was just a distraction.

When she finally managed to find the satellite button, she saw a bird’s eye view of the city. She had never seen the city like this, so it was really refreshing to say the least.

It took her about five minutes, but she eventually found where the night market was, and soon, she was able to locate the Griffin Estate.

“Found it,” Lexa said, pointing to the house. “It’s right here.”

“Alright, thanks,” Tabitha said, setting the device on top of the steering wheel. There was now this blue line on the screen, presumably the direction to the Griffin Estate. “We’re about thirty minutes away.”

Lexa was now subconsciously bobbing up and down with nervous energy. She was excited, but she was also scared. In thirty minutes, with some luck, she would be able to see Clarke again.

Thirty minutes.

***

Lexa saw the house before her mother. How could she miss it? She had stayed there for about half a year, and it was the best half-year of her life. She could never forget it.

So when she pointed out the Griffin Estate, her mother had just nodded and started to steer the car in that direction.

Lexa’s stomach was gathering butterflies. It wasn’t the pleasant kind that she normally got from Clarke, this was the unpleasant kind that was from nerves. She remembered having this sort of butterflies when she was sold for the first time. It made her feel sick.

She didn’t really know why she was feeling so nervous, actually. Maybe it was because she was dying to see Clarke again, just to touch her, caress her, feel her again. Or maybe she was nervous because getting to Clarke most definitely meant that she had to face Mr Griffin, and she was not looking forward to that.

A thought suddenly popped up in her head. What if Mr Griffin was away from home? What if he was at work, just like Mr Woods? Then that would be the best-case scenario. She imagined that Clarke would open the door, she would see the shock evident on the blonde’s face, and then she would invite her in, Lexa would introduce her to her mother, and then they can have their moment upstairs, away from the real world, away from reality, just the two of them.

The thought of it was so idealistic that Lexa had a gut feeling that this was not the case. And her gut feelings were normally right. Her heart sank.

When the black car pulled up to the front gate, Lexa had decided that they should just walk the rest of the distance inside, as it probably would not be appreciated if they parked inside the estate. So her mother agreed, and she parked the car a short distance from the front gate and they walked the rest of the distance.

As they were trekking through the gravel, Lexa felt her heart rate increase. The butterflies swirling in her stomach seemed to be flying now, and she still didn’t know exactly why she was feeling like this.

“Are you okay?” Tabitha’s voice broke Lexa out of her thoughts. “You look a little green.”

“I’m okay,” Lexa nodded, trying her best to be convincing. “I’m just a little nervous, I guess.”

“I understand,” Tabitha said sympathetically. “So this is the place that you stayed at for half a year?”

“Yeah,” Lexa nodded. “I got to sleep in one of the rooms, in a real bed. It was amazing.”

“I’m really glad,” Tabitha gave a small smile. “I hope that you have a plan, Lexa. I don’t know exactly what we are trying to get out here, and how we are going to do that.”

“I guess… that I just want to see Clarke again,” Lexa shrugged. “And I don’t have a plan. Plans don’t tend to last anyway.”

“That’s true, I guess,” Tabitha nodded contemplatively. “Well, we’re here. Do we knock, or something?”

“Um, I think that there is a doorbell,” Lexa craned her neck slightly to look for the doorbell that she was pretty sure was there. After all, whenever there was a delivery there tended to be a sort of chime that indicated that someone was at the door.

It didn’t take her long, but soon she found the doorbell and hovered her fingers over it. This was the moment. Closing her eyes as an attempt to still the still fluttering butterflies in her stomach, she swallowed and pressed down on the doorbell.

There was absolute silence for what felt like an eternity, but it was probably just a minute. Lexa was nearly wetting herself with anticipation.

Lexa and Tabitha shared a look, and just when Lexa started to raise her hand to ring the doorbell again, the door opened slowly and a head poked outside.

It wasn’t the face that she had wanted to see desperately, however.

“L-Lexa?” Mr Griffin’s expression was how Lexa imagined that Clarke’s would be like in her idealistic scenario. It was just a little sad that it was on the wrong face, however.

“Jake,” Lexa simply replied, feeling her confidence start to rise and surge. It was almost as if all those butterflies that were in her stomach had all melted and moulded into liquid rage upon seeing the man that she loathed.

“W-What are you doing here? I don’t understand, I thought I –” Mr Griffin stuttered.

“And look where I am now,” Lexa replied coolly. She took in the blond man’s appearance: his hair was messy, he had circles under his eyes, and his beard was starting to grow out. In other words, he looked horrible, and Lexa found herself not caring at all. “So, where is Clarke?”

“You,” Mr Griffin growled, trying to regain some of his master demeanour. “You have no right to come to my property. Go away!”

“No,” was Lexa’s answer. “As a matter of fact, I do have a right now.”

“No you don’t, slave,” he spat. “Get out of my property!”

“I’m not a slave anymore,” Lexa tilted her head, slightly condescendingly. “Look here, Jake,” she said, holding up her new ID that she got the night before when her mother came back with the good news that their documents have been approved. “I got freed.”

“Freed?” Mr Griffin gasped. “How is that possible?” He then turned his gaze onto the woman beside Lexa. “You,” he seethed. “You freed her, didn’t you?”

“She is my mother,” Lexa said angrily before Tabitha had a chance to speak. “And we are both not slaves anymore. So, tell me, Jake, where is Clarke?”

“Why do you want to see her?” Mr Griffin said, desperately trying to deflect. Although why he would want to do that, Lexa didn’t know. The only theories that she could come up with were bad ones, and that made her heart sink.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Lexa said calmly, not caring how Mr Griffin’s expression contorted into one of rage when she used that term. “Do I not get a right to speak to her?”

“You filthy –” Mr Griffin started but then composed himself, knowing better than to continue. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Well, my word doesn’t really matter anymore. She’s gone.”

Lexa’s blood ran cold. This was exactly what she was fearing. “What do you mean, _she’s_ _gone_?” she demanded.

“She left,” Mr Griffin replied. Lexa stared coldly into those blue eyes for a few more seconds, prompting him to say more, but he didn’t.

“So that’s it?” Lexa said, voice barely above a whisper. She didn’t really know how she was feeling right now, her emotions were really confusing her right now. But she knew that rage was one of them. She had never felt so angry before. It was all his fault. He ruined everything. “ _She left_? That’s all you can give me?”

“Yes,” Mr Griffin said, frowning a bit. “She left.”

“You’re not going to tell me where to?” Lexa hissed, voice still dangerously low.

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you,” Mr Griffin sneered. “You may think that you are so superior now that you have been freed, but in reality when you are born a slave, you will always be a slave. I don’t have to answer any of your questions, so be glad that I even said a thing at all.”

Lexa had never felt this way before. She had never let her body take control of her actions.

Before she knew it, Mr Griffin was on the floor, clutching at his face, and her right hand, which was now held into a fist, was throbbing painfully.

“You dare –” Mr Griffin started but he never got the chance to finish. Because Lexa had planted her right boot into his stomach as hard as she could, and she was surprised to feel pleasure at seeing him throw up bile onto the pristine white floor.

She wanted to see him throw up more, so she kicked him again, just as hard, in the tender flesh of his abdomen which were already bruising, doubling the pain.

It was a long time coming. He deserved it, and Lexa felt no remorse.

She was going to go for more, but then her mother hugged her by her waist and yanked her back and away from the front door.

It was all a blur. Lexa probably fought against her mother to let go and fought against her tears as well, but she wasn’t registering anything but white-hot rage, pent-up from all those years of suffering and hatred for the world that she was in, combined into one single moment.

When she finally gathered herself and felt her breathing starting to get slower and steadier, she realised that she was back in the passenger seat of her car.

All that rage she felt suddenly shifted to sorrow, and she couldn’t help but let tears flow out of her eyes.

Clarke is gone. She had no idea where to look for her now. She will never see her again.

Her mother let her cry on her shoulder and when Lexa finally fell asleep, exhausted, her mother grimly set the car back in motion, back to their neighbourhood.

***

Lexa let out a sigh as she made her way out of the door, and onto the street. While this life was infinitely more enjoyable than the life that she had before, it still wasn’t perfect.

How can it be, when she still hasn’t seen Clarke? She had been on-and-off searching for the blonde for what must have been a year now, and she still could not find her.

One of the reasons for her failure must be because she had no idea where to start. Clarke had said that she cut off all contact with her friends when the incident happened with her mother, so she didn’t mention any of them in the first place. Therefore if she did stay at one of her old friend’s house, Lexa would have no idea where it is.

Lexa had also paid visits back to the slave market. It disgusted her, how many rich people there were who thought that they were better than everyone else, but she still went on a weekly basis, just hoping to catch sight of the blonde. She imagined that the blonde would have a similar approach to her mother, coming to the slave market just hoping that she would see Lexa on stage and that’s where they could reunite. However, every single time, after about half an hour or so of weaving through people that she hated with passion and catching no sight of the blonde hair that she loved so much, she would slump her shoulders in defeat and make her way back to the car, where Tabitha would take her back home.

Over the past year or so, she had stayed at her mother’s. She was now nineteen years old, which meant that she had been legally allowed to live in her own place by now, but she found that she did not want to leave. Not yet, at least. She had missed her mother all the time that she was a slave, and she didn’t feel like she was ready to leave just yet.

Not that the house was giving her any intention to leave in the first place. Mr Woods had been nothing but kind to the former slaves, and if anything, Lexa looked up to him. He was like the dad that she never had. And her mother looked happier than Lexa could ever recall during the time where her mother was under the confines of the first slave’s house. She could imagine why: she got married into a financially stable family, she got her daughter back, what more could she ask for? Echo had also been really enjoying herself. She turned out to be really greedy, always eating, and how she managed to maintain a slim figure was beyond Lexa. She was now seventeen, so she was now learning how to drive. Lexa hasn’t tried to learn how to drive yet, but she will probably look into that in the future.

Since Lexa had not got any education in her life before other than the little bit she got from Clarke about reading and writing (which proved to be incredibly useful as now she could pretend that she had never been a slave, preventing all sorts of bullying, and she could now understand the instructions from books as she was no longer illiterate), she decided to pursue a little bit of education in a community college that she decided to enrol in about ten months ago. Since she was completely useless at subjects like Maths and Physics as she was like over a decade behind everyone else, she decided to take on a more artistic field of education: photography.

She couldn’t really remember how she managed to get into it, it was probably when she looked at Mr Woods’ picture albums that she realised how important photos are. It is like a single frame of time captured into one photograph, when time stands still, and it can represent so many things. When she flipped through her mother’s wedding photos (which she sadly did not attend because it was when she was still a slave), she realised how much meaning each held behind them, and how they were extremely valuable.

Now she was going to walk towards the local supermarket to get the shopping done for the week, but today she decided to go to town and get the food there. She had told herself that she was going to town because she just wanted to experience the vibrant city and probably take some more photographs of the landscape on the way, but deep down she knew that she was going further into a more crowded place because she could come across more people, and theoretically speaking, if you see more people there is a higher chance that one of them could be Clarke, right?

Lexa still had not forgotten Clarke. How could she? Clarke changed her life.

She had stopped going to the markets about two months ago. She hadn’t lost hope yet, but it was looking more and more unlikely that she was going to see the blonde again. For all she knew, she could be in another city, another state. The city that Lexa lived in was different to the one that the Griffin Estate was located in, so how were they going to come across each other?

Still, there was still a tiny chance. Anything is possible. Lexa had faith that she was going to see Clarke again, even if it was twenty years into the future. If they were meant to be, they would find each other again, and if it had been long enough, fall in love again.

She just hoped that Clarke hadn’t given up on her. She wondered if Clarke had cried herself to sleep at night too, or if it was just her when she was really craving the caresses and tender touches and loving words.

The walk was quite long, maybe about thirty minutes. But she got there eventually.

She was just going to enter a supermarket in a shopping complex when she caught a flash of blonde hair in her peripheral vision.

This has happened too many times. Lexa had chased flashes of blonde hair for too many times, only to end up disappointed when the blonde woman would turn around and give her a questioning look.

But it can’t hurt to chase this one, right? There was always a small chance that it was Clarke. Lexa had faith. She had hope.

She started to walk briskly, keeping her eye trained on the blonde hair through everyone else. She refused to lose sight of her. Eventually, her brisk walking turned into a jog, and eventually a run.

The blonde was walking in the library’s direction, but she never got there, as Lexa caught up and was now a few metres away from her.

She could feel the tension. She could feel the fluttering butterflies in her stomach of nerves.

This time was unlike all the other times that Lexa had chased a random blonde. Her gut feeling told her that.

Time seemed to slow down as the blonde turned around.

The air was electric as the two people stood face-to-face, unmoving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is starting to draw to a close...  
> A few words would be lovely ❤️


	17. Fresh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we go, the last chapter... more or less.  
> It's been a fantastic ride, thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy!

Lexa didn’t know how much time passed, just her standing there, not able to move a muscle. The girl that was facing her seemed to have the same problem. Everything else seemed to disappear for the two girls, just eyes staring intently into each other’s, emerald green into sky blue. Just the mere look of the eye was able to tell Lexa so much: the pain, the anguish, the small hope, the uncertainty.

So Clarke had been feeling it too.

Lexa could register the vague chatter of the people who walk by them, but all she was focused on was the blonde that she had not seen in a whole entire year. A whole year that she had spent in hope, a whole year of yearning for the touch and feel of one person.

And that person was standing right in front of her.

She could not believe it. She had not been expecting to see her, not in the city centre of all places. She would imagine Clarke to be going from household to household, asking masters for what their slaves looked like. But then Mr Griffin could’ve told her that she got dumped out in the wild, and Clarke would look there instead, assuming that she had faith that Lexa would survive in the wilderness. Either way, Clarke shouldn’t look in the city centre, because yes there are more people, but that also means that it can be harder to spot who you are looking for. It can be a bit like looking for a grain of rice in a swimming pool.

Clarke seemed to be the first one to break out of her trance. The handbag that she was holding on her shoulders fell onto the floor unceremoniously as she ran forward and engulfed the brunette in a huge hug.

Lexa was feeling a little overwhelmed. The smell, she missed it so much. The way their bodies fit so snugly together, almost like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. She wrapped her arms around the blonde’s back, holding her tight.

She didn’t know how much time passed, them just in this tight embrace. But she didn’t mind, she didn’t want it to end.

When Clarke finally pulled back, she held Lexa at arm’s length. There were tears glistening in her eyes. Lexa had a feeling that she was crying silent tears too, but she didn’t know, because her full attention was focused on the girl in front of her.

“L-Lex…” Clarke choked, burying her head in the brunette’s chest. “I thought that I would never see you again.”

“Me too,” Lexa said, voice cracking a little bit with emotion. “Me too, Clarke.”

“I’ve been looking for you this whole year,” Clarke said, casting her eyes down and wiping at her eyes with her sleeves. “I can’t believe it. It’s over. I found you,” she said, and then her lips curved up into a huge beam that just melted Lexa’s heart.

“I’ve been looking for you too,” Lexa whispered. “Although I had no idea where to start, I had no idea where to look. I’m sorry, Clarke.”

“No,” she said, still smiling. “This is not your fault. God, Lex, I thought you were dead…”

“I’m right here,” Lexa said, leaning in to hug the blonde in a tight embrace again. “I’m okay.”

By now a few people who were passing by them were looking at them curiously, which made Lexa realise that they were in the middle of the pavement, having a really emotional moment right in the public eye.

“Were you headed to the library?” Lexa asked, and Clarke nodded. “Should we go there, and we can talk? People are starting to stare at us.”

“Okay,” Clarke chuckled. “Let’s go inside.”

“Remember your bag.”

“Oh, yeah.”

***

“You know, I went to your house last year looking for you,” Lexa said as the two of them settled down on opposite seats at a table for two. “When you were gone, it shattered me.”

“I’m sorry,” Clarke sighed. “I was considering staying, since I thought that there was this small chance that you will come back. But then I thought that it was impossible after Mr Griffin said that he threw you ten miles out, so I decided to leave to look for you.”

“Clarke,” Lexa said, a little sadly. “Why?”

“You’re worth everything,” Clarke said, looking up to meet Lexa’s eyes. “I found you in the end, so all of that is worth it.”

Even after all this time, Lexa found her cheeks blushing. “But how did you know where to look? I-I don’t understand, how did you survive out there? Did you go back home at all?”

“No,” Clarke shook her head. “I was so mad at Jake that I decided that I didn’t want to see him anymore. So one night I just stole his wallet and his car and I just left. I drove, just hoping to catch sight of you. I knew that it was nearly impossible, to find a single person in a 10-mile radius, but I just had hope, you know? I couldn’t stop until I found you.”

“But… where did you stay? If you didn’t go back home at all?” Lexa asked.

“Initially, I just slept in the car,” Clarke replied. “But then I got a bit sick, so I guilted Jake into giving me money. He cancelled the card that I had, can you believe it? That bastard. Anyway, he created a bank account for me and transferred quite a lot of money in, hoping that I would forgive him. But I just took the money and never looked back. I can never forgive him for what he did to you.”

“I guess what happened to me was a blessing in disguise,” Lexa mumbled.

“Yeah, about that,” Clarke frowned a little. “How _did_ you survive out there? And make it all the way here in decent clothes and decent health? Are you a miracle worker or something?”

“No,” Lexa smiled bashfully. “Look, I have something to show you,” she said, reaching for her back pocket and taking out her ID card. “I think you’ll like it.”

“What is it?” Clarke asked, curious.

“Ta-da!” Lexa held out the ID card with a flourish and then set it on the table so that Clarke could see it.

“What is this?” Clarke’s eyebrows furrowed a little while she picked it up, and when she realised what it was, her eyes widened in surprise. “Y-You got an ID? What? How?”

“As it turns out, Jake didn’t send me into the wilderness at all. He sent me to the market,” Lexa started to explain, but Clarke spoke up.

“He sent me the _wrong way_? That son of a bitch!” Clarke’s voice was a little raised and the librarian glared at her angrily. She covered her mouth. “Sorry, Lex, what were you saying?” she said, much quieter this time.

“I think that he sent me to the market so that I will stay a slave my whole life, but little did he know, he sold me to a man named Mr Woods, and wait for it… he’s married to my mother.”

Clarke gaped at Lexa for a few seconds. “Huh? Wait… so your mother bought you? But… I thought that she was a slave too… I don’t understand.”

“Well, my biological dad freed my mother for her ‘service’,” Lexa grimaced a little bit. “And my mother met Mr Woods, and they got married a few years later. And they would go to the market regularly, trying to see if they could find me, and one day, by some insane stroke of luck I guess, they saw me on the stage and bought me.”

Lexa decided to not mention Echo, because she could be a pleasant surprise when, no _if_ , Clarke goes back to her house and sees her.

“Wow, what are the odds?” Clarke sounded impressed. “You deserve all that luck, Lex.”

“Yeah… maybe,” Lexa’s cheeks heated up again. “So, they freed me and… I’ve been living my life as a free soul now,” Lexa smiled. “And… here I am.”

“That… is amazing,” Clarke beamed and she couldn’t help but get out of her seat and go over to the other side, holding the brunette in a hug again. “And I still cannot believe that I found you, Lex. You don’t know how happy I am.”

“I’m really happy too,” Lexa smiled into the embrace. “Um, Clarke, do you believe in meant-to-bes?”

“I didn’t at first, but… now I’m not so sure,” Clarke said honestly.

“I genuinely believe that we found each other because we’re meant to be,” Lexa said, slightly nervously. “Don’t you think so?”

“I think that you’re right,” Clarke said. “Yeah, that makes sense. So… you live here now?”

“Yeah, my neighbourhood’s about thirty minutes away. Do you want to come and see where I live?”

“I would love to,” Clarke smiled, and the two girls got up from the one chair that they were in and started to make their way out of the library.

“So what made you come here?” Lexa asked. When Clarke raised an eyebrow questioningly, Lexa elaborated, “Like, this place isn’t exactly close to where you lived before. How come you decided to come here?”

“Believe it or not, I don’t live far from here. I rented a one-bedroom apartment down in the west side of the city, and I was just coming here to borrow some stuff from the library.”

“What are the odds?” Lexa raised her eyebrows. “That’s fate, I’m telling you.”

“Yeah, I think so too,” Clarke laughed, but soon that died down and she looked nervous again. “Um, can I hold your hand?”

Lexa looked at Clarke, who was wearing a small, shy smile. She looked so cute and Lexa wanted to plant a kiss on the blonde’s lips right here and now, but she didn’t know if that would be appropriate. After all, they had not seen each other in a year, so maybe they couldn’t pick up from where they left off right away.

“Of course,” Lexa whispered, holding Clarke’s warm hand tightly in hers. They swung their conjoined hands slowly back and forth as they made their way home, both girls’ initial intentions for coming to town in the first place forgotten.

***

Lexa felt herself buzzing with excitement when they reached the front porch of her house. She had no idea how Clarke was going to react to seeing Echo, but she couldn’t imagine it being a bad reaction. Plus, she was intrigued to see how Echo would react too. While both girls were closer to Lexa, they had still formed a friendship. They would be happy to see each other, most definitely.

“So, am I going to meet your mother then?” Clarke breathed, seemingly nervous. For what reason, Lexa had no idea, but then upon second thought, it could be because meeting parents is a rather significant milestone of a relationship. Lexa had no idea where they stood, however. A year ago, she was still her girlfriend, but what about now?

“Yep,” Lexa nodded, giving a small smile as they walked the short path to the front door. As soon as she got to the front door, she halted. “Clarke, I also have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Clarke frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

“I think that you’ll like it,” Lexa smiled, and then rung the doorbell to the front door. Of course, she could’ve used a key, but then she wanted either her mother or Echo to open the door so that they could see Clarke straight away, instead of Lexa awkwardly calling for them to come down saying, ‘Hey, come down! I brought home someone that I think that you will want to see!’

The door swung open after a short while and it was her mother.

“Hey, Lex! You’re back early,” Tabitha said. She looked at Lexa first, but then she saw the blonde beside her. “Um, who is this, Lex?”

“She’s the girl I’ve been telling you about,” Lexa smiled. “The one that I’ve been looking for over a year now.”

“Clarke?” Tabitha gaped.

Clarke was nervously shifting from foot to foot, rolling on the balls of her feet. “That’s me,” she said meekly.

“Oh my goodness, you don’t know how nice it is to see you!” Tabitha stepped onto the front porch and engulfed the blonde into a huge bear hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she murmured into Clarke’s shoulder.

“Um,” Clarke was starting to look slightly uncomfortable at the attention that Tabitha was giving her. “For what?” she said, slightly unsure.

“For being everything that my daughter needed,” Tabitha gushed. “Thank you for taking care of her, I owe you so much.”

“It’s really nothing,” Clarke chuckled slightly.

“It is!” Tabitha enthused. “Oh, you two must want some time to yourselves, right? You haven’t seen each other in ages! Come in, and you two can do your own thing!” With that, Tabitha stepped back into the house and gestured for them to come in.

Lexa shared a look with Clarke.

“Sorry,” Lexa sighed, slightly embarrassed. “My mother is a little… out there.”

“No, it’s fine, I like her,” Clarke reassured. “So… should we go in?”

“I guess, that would be the logical thing to do,” Lexa shrugged.

“So, was she the surprise?” Clarke half-joked when they got in. “With how enthusiastic she is?”

“No, not at all,” Lexa smirked. “The surprise is upstairs.”

“Upstairs?” Clarke raised an eyebrow.

“Yep,” Lexa nodded. “Come on, I’ll show you. I think you’ll like it,” she said, starting to ascend the stairs. Clarke followed after her.

When Lexa finally reached the room, she contemplated knocking on the door, which was firmly shut. But then she decided that Echo could not have been doing anything that she didn’t want anyone to know, so Lexa just straight up opened the door and strode inside.

She saw Echo sat on the bed, back facing her, and when the younger brunette heard the door open, she whipped around furiously.

“What did I tell you about knocking?” she demanded.

“It’s a special occasion,” Lexa shrugged.

“No it’s not,” Echo growled.

“Trust me, it is,” Lexa looked behind her, but she didn’t see Clarke there. Frowning a little due to confusion, she poked her head outside the door and saw the blonde standing there, shifting slightly on her feet.

“What are you doing?” she hissed. “Come in!”

“Oh,” Clarke mumbled and allowed herself to be pulled into the room.

“You’re back?” Echo rolled her eyes, but then she saw the person who was being pulled in by Lexa. She stared at them open-mouthed for a short while, then her lips split into a huge beam. “Clarke!” she nearly squealed, getting up and rushing over and engulfing the blonde in a bear hug.

“Echo!” Clarke gasped, “How did you get here?”

“She was bought as well by my mother,” Lexa explained. “We came across each other again in the market.”

“The market?” Clarke frowned. “But I thought Jake threw you away instead of selling you on?”

“I got found by some people passing by and they became my master, and then they decided to sell me on after a week and that’s where I saw Lexa,” Echo said.

“Wow, what are the odds?” Clarke chuckled, letting go of Echo to look at her properly.

“I know right?” Echo smiled. “It’s got to be fate.”

“Hey, Lexa said the same thing!” Clarke noted.

“I came up with it!” Echo frowned. “You don’t get to take the credit!”

“Oops,” Lexa covered her mouth with her hands, not really feeling bad at all.

The three of them laughed.

***

“So, this is your room?” Clarke said, looking around when Lexa took her to her room.

“Yep,” Lexa said, plopping herself down on the bed on the far side of the room.

“And these?” Clarke said, pointing to some A3 printouts that were on the wall.

“They’re just some pictures that I took when I was bored,” Lexa shrugged, not thinking it as a big deal.

“You took them?” Clarke said, not in doubt but in amazement, “Wow, they’re beautiful.”

“Thanks,” Lexa found herself blushing. “But it’s not that good. They’re just pictures of the landscape that I find pretty.”

“It’s amazing,” Clarke said, breaking her gaze from the photograph and casting her eyes onto Lexa’s instead. She sat down on the chair that was at the table. “So, do you do photography now?”

“Yeah, I’ve been going to school recently,” Lexa said. “I can’t really do the academic stuff, because I’m miles behind everyone, so I decided to go for a more artistic approach for education, you know?”

Clarke nodded. “I understand, that’s actually more or less what I’ve been doing. Since I quit school before it has all completely finished, I don’t have the qualifications to be a doctor or something. So…” she drawled. “I am now doing art.”

“Art?” Lexa raised her eyebrows. “As in, drawings of people?”

“Um, that can be a part of it, yes,” Clarke blushed. “I normally draw animals, or flowers, or the city landscape, although yes I do draw people sometimes.”

“Who do you draw?” Lexa asked, curious.

“Ah…” Clarke bit her lip and broke eye contact, cheeks becoming even redder. “You.”

“Me?” Lexa said, flattered.

“Yes, I-I just missed you so much a-and I thought that I would never see you again,” Clarke sighed. “So I would draw so many portraits of you so that I would never forget you,” she admitted. “I’d look at them at night, just pretending that you were next to me.”

“That’s really sweet,” Lexa said, heart hurting a little at the evident pain that she unintentionally caused on the blonde by simply not being there. It wasn’t her fault, however. The only person to blame was Mr Griffin, and Lexa didn’t think that she had forgiven him yet, even if he did give Clarke financial support to live out there on her own. “I really missed you too, Clarke. I actually still can’t believe you’re here.”

“Me neither, it feels a little bit like a dream, doesn’t it?” Clarke mumbled.

“Yeah,” Lexa agreed.

The two girls sat in comfortable silence for a while, just basking in each other’s presence.

“Talking of dreams, what do you think you want to do in the future?” Lexa asked, just wanting to make conversation, just wanting to hear the blonde talk again.

“Me? Since I do art, I guess I can become an architect. I know that it’s not exactly the same thing, but I think that it could be quite interesting,” Clarke said contemplatively. “What about you?”

“Um, I don’t really know yet,” Lexa confessed. “But we have got a lot of time on our hands, right?”

“Yeah, we have a lot of time,” Clarke mumbled absentmindedly. The two girls fell quiet again, but then they both spoke at the same time.

“You know,” they both started, but then they both paused, prompting the other to continue what they were about to say. But then neither of them spoke for a while, just waiting.

Lexa laughed. “You first.”

“No, it’s fine, you first,” Clarke replied.

“No, tell me, I want to know,” Lexa insisted.

“Okay, um, I was just about to say how everything seemed to have flipped? Now we’re in your room, and you’re on your bed, and I’m sitting on a chair, whereas before it was the other way round, you know what I mean?” Clarke said.

“I know exactly what you mean,” Lexa said, smiling. “I was just about to say the same thing.”

“Great minds think alike, right?” Clarke said, laughing softly.

“Maybe,” Lexa chuckled.

“Um,” Clarke looked a little unsure. “I just want to say this now, because you’re here, and I just fear that one day you’ll just be gone again, and I will never get the chance to say what I wanted to say again,” Clarke bit her lip and cast her gaze downwards nervously.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lexa reassured.

“Well, um,” Clarke cleared her throat nervously. “I guess that I just want to say, that… I love you, Lexa,” Clarke closed her eyes and Lexa could see a single tear trail out of her eye. “I know that it may be too quick, that we haven’t seen each other in a year and that might scare you away, but I don’t want to live another day without getting this off my chest. All I could think about was how I haven’t said it yet, and how I didn’t know if I could ever say it to you again, and that scared me, you know?” Clarke wiped at her eyes with a sleeve.

Lexa, on the other hand, was staring in shock at the blonde before her. She had wanted to hear those words come out of her mouth so much, heck, she even dreamed of hearing those exact words come out of her mouth, but she had never imagined how she would feel when she heard them. All she could feel was happiness – pure, unadulterated happiness that made her feel like she could fly all the way to the moon and back. She was pretty sure that her eyes were also starting to glaze – she had not seen this coming, she had not expected it, but it surprised her in the best way possible.

“Please say something?” Clarke choked, completely vulnerable in front of the brunette, opening her heart. That was when Lexa realised that she had not uttered a word since Clarke’s confession.

She didn’t need to say anything. She couldn’t anyway. How could she put a whole year of anguish and pain of not being with the love of her life into words?

Instead, Lexa leaned forward and placed a hand on the blonde’s cheek, pressing her lips onto the blonde’s.

At that moment, Lexa could see the fireworks explode in her head. She had nearly forgotten how good it felt, and how enjoyable it was. She zoned out everything that was around her, all she was concentrating on was Clarke, and how much love she felt for the woman in front of her. It had been way too long, and it was only now that she realised that she was truly _home_.

Clarke let out a squeak in surprise at first, but soon she started to kiss back, and then the two of them started to kiss fervently, not getting enough of each other. Clarke pulled at Lexa’s waist, making their bodies go flush together, and Lexa moaned slightly into the kiss at the shoot of arousal that got sent to the sensitive area between her legs. She pressed herself harder into Clarke, just wanting _more_ , and this time it was Clarke who let out a moan. They had both missed their sweet lady kisses too much, and they didn’t intend on stopping any time soon. Screw oxygen, oxygen is overrated.

But eventually, the need for air did become a little bit too much for the girls, and they were forced to break apart. They simply watched each other as they caught their breath, staring into each other’s eyes, expressing so much emotion: elation, giddiness, and most importantly, love. Clarke’s eyes were slightly unfocused, hooded, and Lexa found that so cute and enticing that she couldn’t help but lean in for another short peck.

“Lex…?” Clarke’s voice was low and hoarse, and Lexa found that incredibly seductive, even though that was probably not the blonde’s intention.

Lexa stared lovingly at the girl in front of her for a few more seconds, before her voice decided to work again.

“I love you too, Clarke. You’re all that I need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much the end, but there will be an epilogue coming to wrap up the story completely.  
> The support for this story has been fantastic, and I cannot thank you guys enough for all the comments, kudos and bookmarks - I have never gotten this many before and considering that this is my first multi-chapter Clexa fic ever, it is quite amazing.  
> I had a lot of fun writing this story and I hope that you will embark on future projects with me!  
> I hope you stay safe out there, take care!! ❤️❤️❤️


	18. Epilogue

“Clarke!” Lexa called when Clarke finally opened the door to their apartment, which they bought two years ago. As it turned out, when Clarke found Lexa again four years ago, she only happened to live on the other side of the same city, so it was really convenient for the two of them to meet up regularly in town. Over time, they had chosen a café which they went to pretty much every day just to catch up with each other. As for their love life, it had only grown since the first day that they got reunited, and eventually Clarke decided that she wanted to leave the apartment that she was living in, because she found it dingy and a little depressing. She had asked Lexa if they wanted to find a place to move in together, and Lexa had accepted without a second thought and that was when they decided to look together for a place to stay. Her mother was a little sad to see Lexa go, but she accepted it nonetheless and wished them the best for the future.

Since Clarke did not get any of Mr Griffin’s wealth because the old man decided that he wanted to keep it to himself (“That bastard, it’s fine, I’ll get his money one day, sooner or later,” Clarke had said a little bit vindictively), they could not afford to live in a house… yet. Since the inflation rate for property was really high, they decided that they wanted to take a mortgage instead of continuing to rent, and with the rather generous help of Mr Woods, he had helped them financially and they found a nice two-bedroom apartment in a nice neighbourhood near the city centre, which was really useful as they could walk to work, instead of having to commute by bus or something along those lines.

As for work, Lexa found herself a job that focused on taking pictures of models in a fashion agency. It paid well, and once Lexa had told Clarke that it was nice to see all those models in stylish clothing, but then Clarke got a little bit more than jealous and that was when she went to buy the sexiest lingerie that she could find and then they had mind-blowing sex that night. On top of her usual job, however, Lexa also took part in other small jobs such as taking wedding pictures, as well as taking pictures of the landscape when she was travelling just for her own hobby. She would post it on her blog, and she was surprised to see that people actually liked her posts and followed her account, which only encouraged her to take more pictures to post.

As for Clarke, she got a degree in architecture in college and now she was working an office job, planning and designing the construction of new buildings. Normally she does modern housing, but right now she is doing a bigger project which was going to be a twelve-story tower. She was really excited about the project, because she would be able to have an influence on the colours and the textures and the design of the whole building.

“You’re finally back,” Lexa breathed when she made her way to the front door, where Clarke was standing. Clarke puffed out some cold air as she made her way inside, and Lexa helped take the scarf off the blonde. Clarke’s cheeks were slightly pink from the cold, and Lexa found that so cute that she just had to lean in to connect her lips to the blonde’s.

Even after all these years, she still feels the fireworks shoot up her spine every time she kisses her, she still feels the euphoria and the aphrodisiac that comes along with it.

“My lips are cold,” Clarke complained, but Lexa didn’t care. After a while, they broke apart and Lexa smiled widely at her.

“Look, I made your favourite,” she smiled. “It’s just finished, your timing is perfect.”

“Lasagne?” Clarke asked, smiling back.

“Yes,” Lexa whispered, pulling Clarke’s hand along and entering the main room, which served as both a living room and a dining room. Lexa darted off when she sat Clarke at the dinner table, and soon she came back with two plates of food for the two of them.

She liked this. It was simply the domesticity of the whole thing, it was almost as if they were living the married life. Just thinking about marriage made Lexa’s heart pound.

“So… how was your day?” Lexa asked as she picked up her fork, and shoving a little bit of lasagne into her mouth.

“Not bad,” Clarke replied. “We did a little bit of interior design today.”

“I thought that wasn’t your field?” Lexa said, setting her fork down to drink a little bit of water from her cup.

“Well, I can be flexible,” Clarke said, shrugging.

“Damn right you can be,” Lexa smirked, and it took a while for Clarke to get the double meaning.

“Oh, stop it!” she blushed. “But, yeah, it was pretty fun. We had to decide where we were going to put the rooms and the walls so that the whole building doesn’t collapse.”

“I thought that was physics?” Lexa asked.

“Yeah, so we got a team of structural engineers who deal with that as well. So all’s good.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Lexa smiled. “Did you hear the news about the election today?”

“Yes,” Clarke beamed and closed her eyes. “I am actually so damn happy that Kane won. We’re not going to be under the dictatorship of Wallace anymore. Everyone in my office literally screamed when the news was out.”

“I know, right?” Lexa laughed softly. “My people will finally be equal. There will be no more slavery, or at least that’s what Kane says. Do you think that he’ll actually carry out that promise, though?”

“Definitely,” Clarke replied. “He’s the first person that won after decades of people winning from Wallace’s party. Everything will change, I bet you. The slave market will burn to the ground, all the slaves will be freed. I just know it.”

“I hope you’re right,” Lexa said contemplatively. “But then wouldn’t there be a problem of slaves having nowhere to go? What would happen to them?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Clarke said. “But we pay too much tax, the government has money. They will help them in some way, I’m pretty sure of it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lexa mumbled. “Well, I’m just glad that we’re not going to be in a ‘dystopian world’ anymore.”

“I’m really glad too,” Clarke smiled warmly. Then it turned slightly sly. “I think that this calls for a celebration, don’t you think?” she said, slightly mischievously.

“Hey, my lasagne is not good enough?” Lexa said, mocking hurt.

“No, but I think that we should pop out a _little_ bit of champagne, don’t you think?” Clarke suggested.

“I think that you are onto something here,” Lexa smirked.

***

Lexa was pretty sure that she had one of the best nights yet. Clarke got a little tipsy with all the wine that she drunk, and that only happened to fuel her libido even more. When Clarke started to plant sloppy kisses onto Lexa’s lips, who was she to say no to more kisses?

But then Lexa remembered that Clarke had come home about an hour ago so she should probably shower, and when she mentioned that to the blonde, Clarke had simply said that they should shower at the same time. Her excuse was to save water, and Lexa had just gone along with it and they probably spent a little longer than necessary in the shower.

Afterwards, they probably also spent a lot of time in their bed, neither of them attempting to sleep, but instead going at each other like bunnies.

Fast-forward about three hours and countless orgasms later, Lexa was now staring lovingly at the woman who was now lying motionless next to her, spent and with a beautiful post-coital glow. Lexa still had no idea how she got so lucky to know such an amazing person, let alone fall in love with her in every way.

“What was your impression of me when you first saw me?” Clarke mumbled, turning her head to meet emerald eyes. Her eyes were a little hooded, and was still in a bit of a daze.

“Me?” Lexa asked. “Well, um, I guess the first time I saw you I thought that you were going to be one of those snobby rich blondes that thought that they were superior, but after a few minutes, when I actually got to _talk_ to you, I thought that you were the only good person on the planet,” Lexa said sincerely. “I’m not joking, you changed my life.”

Clarke blushed slightly. “No, I didn’t,” she said.

“You did,” Lexa cooed. “So, what about you?” she asked. “What was your first impression of me?”

Clarke was quiet for a few seconds. “I didn’t dare say this aloud for a long time, but I thought that you were the most beautiful woman on the planet,” Clarke said reverently.

“I couldn’t have been,” Lexa said. “I was all battered and bruised.”

“And yet I still thought that there was no one prettier than you,” Clarke smiled softly. “I just felt… drawn to you. I just wanted to make you feel better, I wanted to make you smile, I wanted to help you. Do you get what I mean?”

“Yes,” Lexa whispered, flattered. “Of course.” She leaned in for a short peck, and when they pulled back, they continued holding each other, nothing else accompanying them except for the dim lighting and the serene night air.

“I love you,” Clarke whispered into Lexa’s neck.

“I love you too,” Lexa replied.

She wasn’t lying. She had fallen in love with her in every way.

After a few minutes, when she felt the blonde’s breathing start to slow down and become deeper, she felt for the small bump in her pocket, and smiled when she found it. She took it out and examined it for the umpteenth time in the moonlight.

It was an 18-carat white gold ring with a 0.5 carat round diamond in the middle. On the inside, it was inscribed with ‘C + L’. It had cost her a significant portion of her savings, but it was worth it: Clarke was worth everything.

Just thinking about marriage made her heart beat rapidly.

She will ask the question sometime, but she doesn’t know exactly when.

She’ll ask soon, though. Soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go... finished.  
> It has been an absolute pleasure writing this story, it was an incredible experience and I am really glad you guys were part of it too.  
> Any final opinions on this story? I would love to hear them!  
> 1000 kudos? One day, maybe... one day...  
> Take care, and stay safe out there! ❤️❤️❤️


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